Indonesian basketball is making a bold move to try and capture a co-hosting role — along with Japan and the Philippines — for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup in 2023.

The dream of bringing the world’s top basketballers to the country is part of the country’s effort to maintain the use of sporting venues after the 2018 Asian Games — the pinnacle multisport event in the region.

The FIBA World Cup is a quadrennial event, featuring international men’s teams.

For the 2023 runoff, Indonesia will be partnered with Japan, the host of 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the Philippines, Southeast Asia’s basketball powerhouse. It would be the first occasion FIBA has awarded the event to multiple hosts.

Indonesian Olympic Committee’s (KOI) Erick Thohir said keeping sports venues busy with events would be essential after the 2018 games.

“After the games, the government wants these sports venues to be used as public areas. Perbasi [Indonesian Basketball Association] had this idea, and I fully support it,” Erick told the press on the sidelines of a visit by FIBA delegates to Istora indoor stadium, the candidate venue, at Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Admitting that Indonesian basketball lags far behind Japan and the Philippines in terms of achievement, Erick is hopeful that the 2023 event will have many positive effects for Indonesia, including promoting the country on the world stage and motivating young talent to excel at the sport.

“The FIBA World Cup is a prestigious event. It’d be great if we — with the other co-hosts — won the bid. Organizing the event may also give incentives to Perbasi to strengthen the national team,” he added.

In the upcoming bid, however, Indonesia-Japan-Philippines will face tough contenders. Russia and Turkey, which have storied and successful basketball traditions at both European and world levels, are the two nations submitting single-host bids. Meanwhile, South American neighbors and basketball fanatics Argentina and Uruguay have paired up for a joint-bid.

Ingo Weiss, a FIBA delegate who visited Istora, said he was impressed with the renovation of the sports venue, which was built in 1962.

“It’s impressive for us to see everything here, to see the gym, which was built in 1962 for the Asian Games. It is now renovated, which is good,” said the FIBA treasurer.

“Now we must look at how to make [the venue] better for basketball — the requirements are a bit different for this sport, as you will have tall players playing the sport. You need a lot of space for this, but I’m sure we will have options to work it out,” added Weiss, referring to height of some doors within Istora that are too low for international players.

Weiss recommended that Indonesia discuss its plan thoroughly with Japan and the Philippines before submitting their bid, which is due by the end of August.

“We’ll come back here in October with our evaluation. In December, FIBA will make the final decision on the host [or hosts],” he added.

The 2014 world cup was held in Spain — with the US finishing as the winner, while the upcoming 2019 event will take place in China.

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