MIES, Switzerland/MOSCOW, Russia (FIBA 3x3) - The 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships will take place in Russia's capital city of Moscow, FIBA announced on Tuesday. The tournament will be held over the course of five days in June 2014. The exact dates are to be announced at a later stage.

The Russian Basketball Federation (RBF), one of Europe's pioneers in developing 3x3, will host the second edition of the tournament that was first held in Athens, Greece in 2012.

The 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships will follow a similar competition format to that used in the inaugural event, with men’s and women’s tournaments as well as individual contests. In 2012, 48 teams (24 men's and 24 women's) from 32 countries competed in the Greek capital.

"We are extremely pleased to stage the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships in Moscow," said FIBA President Yvan Mainini. "Russia has been a motor in the promotion of 3x3 basketball and showed their competitiveness in Athens last year."

Russia's teams finished in the top 10 at the 2012 FIBA 3x3 World Championships, with the men's side coming in fifth and the women's ninth.

"The tournament that Russia will host in 2014 will be very interesting," said Russia's Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko. "This sport is getting more popular here. Every year we organise the final of Russian competitions, where thousands of teams gather. We support FIBA's efforts to make 3x3 an Olympic discipline."

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann explained what made Russia stand out from the list of candidate cities.

"We were very pleased with the high interest and number of requests we received to host this tournament. Ultimately, we decided that it has to take place in Russia, a country with such a long basketball and 3x3 tradition," he said.

RBF President Alexander Krasnenkov explained how hosting the event will affect basketball in Russia.

"The hosting of the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships will definitely have a positive impact on the development of basketball all over Russia," he said.

"Just the fact that such a big tournament will take place in our country will demonstrate that we are capable of hosting the events of the highest level."

The selection of teams for the tournament is based on both sport and development criteria, allowing both the strongest teams on the field as well as the most active countries to participate in the event, which fulfils a key aim of 3x3 - diversity.

The FIBA 3x3 World Championships are organised every two years, while the FIBA U18 3x3 World Championships are held on an annual basis - except the year of the Youth Olympic Games. As such, 2013 will see the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from 26-29 September.

As well as these national team competitions, FIBA organises each year the FIBA 3x3 World Tour, which sees teams representing cities from around the world. Participating teams qualify from an 'open' network of FIBA-endorsed events for five World Tour stops in the world's most cosmopolitan cities.

The 12 best teams across those five stops qualify for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final. FIBA announced on 16 April that the 2013 edition host cities are Tokyo, Prague, San Juan, Lausanne and Rio de Janeiro whilst the grand final will be held in Istanbul on 5-6 October.

In 2014, the three main 3x3 national team competitions will be the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championships in Moscow, the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China and the FISU 3x3 World University Championships in Salvador, Brazil. 2014 will also see the third edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour.

About FIBA and 3x3 basketball

Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 basketball is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a standard half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore.

A bid for 3x3 basketball to be included at the 2016 Rio Olympics was submitted by FIBA on 1 February 2013 and is being examined by the IOC. A decision is expected when the IOC's Executive Board meets in Moscow this August.

For further information about 3x3 basketball, visit fiba.com/3x3, 3x3planet.com, twitter.com/3x3planet and youtube.com/3x3planet or contact 3x3@fiba.com.

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