"Since 2006, 11 of the 12 teams that have been granted wild cards were always inside the top 24 of the FIBA ranking men," said Baumann.

"This proves that FIBA's Central Board is determined to make the FIBA Basketball World Cup as competitive as possible.

"Three of the recipients of the wild cards for Spain 2014 are ranked inside the top 10.

"Greece, fifth in the current ranking, are a powerhouse of international basketball and this is the first time they have asked for a wild card.

"Brazil were quarter-finalists at the 2012 London Olympics, are 10th in the world and will host the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"Turkey were silver medalists at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and are a regular fixture in leading international tournaments.

"The fourth, Finland, impressed at EuroBasket 2013 by beating four teams from the Top 15 in FIBA's ranking men as they finished ninth in Slovenia.

"The Finns are enjoying massive support with their fans travelling in big numbers to their games.

"The current growth of Finnish basketball is the result of a solid long-term strategy being executed by the Finnish Basketball Association and still has a lot of potential for development.

"All four teams have confirmed the total commitment of their best players to participate at Spain 2014.

"These picks have also been backed by the Local Organising Committee."

The United States won the final FIBA World Championships of Basketball which has been replaced by the World Cup as the sport's flagship event ©Getty Images



The four teams beat the likes of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela to a place in the inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup and will be the last recipients of the wild card following FIBA's decision to change the qualification process for their flagship event.

The new qualification phase will take place over an 18 month period and, according to FIBA, will ensure that the best teams qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Finland, Brazil, Greece and Turkey will now join Angola, Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Iran, South Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine and USA in the 24-team competition which will is due to place in Spain from 30 August to 14 September.

Senegal were re-instated into the World Cup by the FIBA Central Board after the Senegalese Basketball Federation complied with past disciplinary sanctions imposed by FIBA and have agreed to a clear road map for the complete re-organisation of the national federation.

The draw for the World Cup is due to take place on Monday (February 3).

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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