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| Taiwan's sports ministry believes FIBA was "clearly overreacting" after moving its supposed home game against China to the MOA Arena. FIBA (file photo) |
MANILA—FIBA's decision to move the scheduled World Cup Qualifiers showdown between Chinese Taipei and China on March 1 to the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay is all but a done deal as the governing basketball body notified both teams of the situation.
In a follow-up report by TSNA's Hsu Po-Tsang on Wednesday, FIBA explained to both national teams that their showdowns have to be moved to neutral venues "due to considerations of the current geopolitical context."
FIBA and the Chinese Basketball Association have yet to announce the venue of the supposed China home stand on July 6.
However, right on the final day of 2025, Taiwan's sports ministry gave one last lashing to FIBA for the year, saying that the basketball organization's decision to strip them of hosting rights defeats the purpose of the game.
"This is completely contrary to the essence of basketball, and it's quite regrettable," Taiwan's deputy sports minister Cheng Shih-Chung said.
Hsu also quoted Cheng saying that the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association has been persuading FIBA to have the March 1 game back in Taipei, only that "FIBA is clearly overreacting."
Cheng also assured that the Chinese athletes would not get hostile treatment from the Taiwanese people despite the longstanding feud between the two countries over Taiwan's sovereignty.
"Taiwan is a safe society, and there is no so-called security problem," Cheng further said, hoping that the next time Chinese Taipei is scheduled to host China in a FIBA-sanctioned game, it will literally happen in Taiwan.
Chinese Taipei and China are scheduled to clash at 4 p.m. of March 1 at the MOA Arena, right before Gilas Pilipinas hosts Australia at 7:30 p.m.
The animosity between China and Taiwan further escalated this week as the former began conducting military drills along the Taiwan Strait and the rest of the seawater surrounding the latter.
