Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) President Jose Luis Saez and the President of Spain's High Council for Sport Miguel Cardenal visited the House of Basketball, headquarters of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), to make the formal submission.

The 2018 edition of the tournament marks the first time the event will be played under its new name following the move from FIBA World Championship for Women.

The men's tournament changed its name for this year's event, which was also held in Spain.

"The Spanish Federation is eager to showcase and make the most of the golden generation that the country's women's teams have experienced in recent years," said Saez.

"Over the last decade, our teams have won 35 medals across world and continental championships in junior and senior women's categories.

"The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup is the centrepiece of our project 'Women's Universe' which covers different promotional activities, growth and development of women's sports."

Spain played host to the 2014 Men's Basketball World Cup with the United States taking gold ©Getty Images



Spain has more 144,000 licensed female basketball players.

The FEB and the High Council for Sport both see the huge benefits of hosting the leading women's national team basketball tournament as a way to further boost participation and expand the legacy of Spain 2014.

"We were very happy to have hosted the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup this past summer for our men's team and we want to present the same amazing opportunity to our women," said Cardenal.

"Basketball is the sport that women participate in the most in Spain, more than football.

"So they deserve to show what they are able to do - like they did in Turkey a few weeks ago - at home, in front of the home fans."

"We want to keep increasing the participation in basketball in Spain, the participation and interest in women's basketball and in women's sports in general.

"This helps show the values of equality and of sports to kids."

Saez and Cardenal were welcomed at FIBA's headquarters by FIBA President Horacio Muratore, FIBA Honorary President Yvan Mainini and FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann.

The officially submission comes after the FEB submitted their letter of intent in April.

Israel, who also expressed interest in hosting the World Cup, is expected to submit its own bid after site visits take place next week.

Spain missed out on gold in the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey after losing to basketball powerhouses United states in the final.

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