Dubai to host 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships

IWBF have awarded the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships to the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The decision was made at the IWBF Executive Council meeting which took place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December alongside the 2019 Asia Oceania Championships, in Pattaya, Thailand.

The result of the decision will mean that it will be the first time ever the United Arab Emirates will be hosting wheelchair basketball’s showcase event.

IWBF President, Ulf Mehrens, said:

“I’d like to congratulate the United Arab Emirates and the city of Dubai on winning the bid to host the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Dubai. They presented a very strong and emotional bid, which clearly resonated with the Council today.

“Hosting the World Championships in West Asia will be a milestone for our sport and is extremely important for the Asia Oceania Zone to continue its growth. We have full confidence that Dubai will exceed our expectations and create a great event and a celebration of Paralympic sport.

“It was an extremely difficult decision for the IWBF Executive Council to make with Canada and the UAE both presenting very thorough and exciting host options, and I’d like pass on my sincere thanks to both of them for their hard work and effort that went into the proposals.”

Dubai have a proven track record of running world class sporting events, including the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship and a long legacy of running the Fazza Cup, an international wheelchair basketball tournament for the past eleven years.

Majid Abdulla Al-Usaimi the CEO of Dubai Club for People of Determination and the President of the Asian Paralympic Committee expressed his personal happiness, saying:

“The competition for the honor of organizing this global and largest event in wheelchair basketball, which will be the first in terms of organizing it in the Middle East, was not easy, especially with the strong bid which was presented by representatives of the Canadian city of Ottawa to win the organization of this global event.

“We are confident that with the experience of the team we have brought together for the LOC, which has more than 15 years’ experience in organising large sporting events, will make the World Championships one of the most significant sporting events of the year 2022.

“The Government of Dubai has committed itself in the previous years to keep Dubai a friendly and accessible city for people of determination and reach their vision for 2020 “My community… A City for Everyone”. We hope that hosting the World Championships will be a legacy from this vision and continue to drive integration in our community and promote the wonderful sport of wheelchair basketball worldwide.”

The IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men’s and the women’s national teams.

The first unofficial Wheelchair Basketball World Championships for men was held in 1973, with Bruges, Belgium being the first host city. The unofficial world championship for men was won by Great Britain, with a team that included Philip Craven who would later become the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Bruges, Belgium also hosted the first official World Championships, which was then known as the Gold Cup tournament, in 1975.

Zonal qualification tournaments take place in each of the four IWBF Zones (America, Africa, Europe and Asia Oceania) to decide the countries that take place.

The event is held every four years.

The final standings of the previous World Championships – https://iwbf.org/world-championships/