The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) together with the Community of Madrid presented their candidacy this Thursday to organize EuroBasket 2029 in the capital, with the WiZink Center as the only venue to be played. This request opens the possibility of Madrid hosting a European basketball tournament again, as happened in 2007. In that year, the Spanish team, which had just won the World Cup in Japan, won silver after losing to Russia (59 -60) in the final held at the Palacio de los Deportes (the current WiZink Center). The city is bidding to host a 15-match group stage and the title playoffs from the round of 16 over 22 days.
In addition to Madrid, Spain has hosted this tournament in 1973 and 1997, both in Catalonia. The first was played in Barcelona and Badalona, where the team also won silver after losing to Yugoslavia (67-78). The second added Girona as a third pavilion. With Lolo Sainz at the helm, the Spanish managed to be fifth. The team has four continental titles under its belt (Poland 2009, Lithuania 2011, France 2015 and Germany 2022), being the team with the most European titles after the defunct Yugoslavia (8) and the Soviet Union (14).
The FEB already has experience in bidding to compete in tournaments or pre-qualifiers in Spain. In 2021, just after the pandemic along with her difficulty moving, she managed to hold the Women’s European Championship. In addition to the men’s and women’s world championships in 2014 and 2018, respectively. The last time it was played in Spain was this year’s Pre-Olympic in Valencia, in which Scariolo’s team sealed their place at the Olympic Games. Hosting the tournament could have an economic impact of up to 270 million euros, as indicated by the federation.
