2010 WC Arenas

[rikhardur]

FIBA - FIBA ends inspection tour in Turkey for 2010 FIBA World Championship


ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - FIBA President Bob Elphinston and Secretary General and IOC Member Patrick Baumann ended today a two days visit of Turkey to review all aspects of the organisation of the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men.

During the visit they met with the with the Trkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Minister of State for Sport Mr. Murat Basgioglu to assess the feasibility of the delivery of the venues not yet finalized but needed for the event.

The construction planning given for the constructions of the venues in Antalya (started), Ankara (to be started) and Istanbul (not started) are behind schedule and may not be ready on time for the Championship.

The Government through the Prime Minister has given FIBA the reassurance that the venues will be delivered.

However, the on time availability of a suitable venue in Istanbul remains uncertain. The project of the venue in the downtown area, following the discussion with the government, will not be realized in time and efforts are being concentrated on the privately funded Fenerbahce-Ulker Project for a 15'000 seats arena. This venue is planned to be opened for use until May 2010. However, the final designs have yet to be approved by the authorities and constructions should be starting within the next four months.

FIBA and the Turkish Federation will meet again in November to assess the risks related to this essential aspect of the preparations as well as on other aspects of the World Championship. The Central Board of FIBA will meet on December 6 to analyze and decide on the situation caused by the delays in the planning.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/28721/arti.html

[bobo81]

Being behind schedule is what got South Africa in trouble for FIFA WC 2010 as well. Apparently now they are on track so there is no need for a back up venue/country. I think Turkey will manage.

[ArnoldPettybone]

Pretty stupid to have three venues in one city, even if its Istanbul.
They already have the famous abdi ipekci arena and the new huge Sinan erdem dome (I think its already completed some years ago as part of turkey's bid for the 2008 Olympics, though still without use since the games were awarded to Beijing), so wtf?

[Levenspiel]

I don't think there will be a problem with the arenas, they all will be completed by that time. Even in the worst case scenario, Turkey can satisfactorily handle the organization with already existing courts in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, etc.

Pretty stupid to have three venues in one city, even if its Istanbul.
They already have the famous abdi ipekci arena and the new huge Sinan erdem dome (I think its already completed some years ago as part of turkey's bid for the 2008 Olympics, though still without use since the games were awarded to Beijing), so wtf?

Yeah, I thought Sinan Erdem Dome would host the Istanbul leg of WC2010 games. It's already been built, but the internal construction may not be finished yet, and they may be referring to that.

[rikhardur]

It's rumoured that Argentina might apply to organise the tournament in case Turkey fails to meet schedule. Can Turkey really give up?

[mvblair]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...Slow down, fellows.

Why does FIBA need multiple arenas for the WBC? That is absurd. Absolutely absurd. Indianapolis did a wonderful job with the tournament in 2002, using only two arenas. They did a poor job of promoting the tournament, but that's not because of the arenas.

Bob Elphinston needs to understand that the WBC is not the Olympics nor is it the World Cup. Shouldn't Elphinston want to see this money go towards basketball development rather than self-aggrandizement by FIBA?

[alermac]

Turkey not ready to host 2010?

It has been mentioned several times on Argentinean newspapers: Turkey may decline to host 2010 World Championships, because of the financial crisis and also because FIBA won't allow them to host it if Turkey doesn't build the 20,000 stadium it had promised and now won't build.

That decision would be made by FIBA on its Februray 15 meeting, and would also leave a few nations applying to be the new hosts: the two nations that don't win the 2014 bid (Spain, China and/or Italy) could be the frontrunners, but Argentina would also apply, since it hosted the U21 Worlds and it could be a great finale for the NT careers of some players of this generation (Ginóbili, Prigioni and Oberto, at least). Of course there would be also other candidate nations.

[Victorious]

It has been mentioned several times on Argentinean newspapers: Turkey may decline to host 2010 World Championships, because of the financial crisis and also because FIBA won't allow them to host it if Turkey doesn't build the 20,000 stadium it had promised and now won't build.

That decision would be made by FIBA on its Februray 15 meeting, and would also leave a few nations applying to be the new hosts: the two nations that don't win the 2014 bid (Spain, China and/or Italy) could be the frontrunners, but Argentina would also apply, since it hosted the U21 Worlds and it could be a great finale for the NT careers of some players of this generation (Ginóbili, Prigioni and Oberto, at least). Of course there would be also other candidate nations.

The last one was in Japan. And China hosted the Olympics. So I think Asia is out of the picture.

Anyway, Turkey will host the tournament. These kind of rumors never turn out to be true.

[SheLL]

Sinan Erdem Dome (In athletic mode 17,000 , with portable stands for basketball 22,500 U/C)



Istanbul B.B. anounced the deadline for finishing time of arena construction as 2009 summer.

Abdi Ipekci Arena ( 11,500 )



Fenerbahce Ulker Arena ( 15,000 U/C )

Renders




Ankara Arena ( 10,000+ Proposed )

Ankara mayor anounced that the construction of new arena will start on this spring and will be finished in 6 months. He also said that the new arena's interior will look like nba kind of arenas. There were several projects but the winner is ...




Antalya ( 10,000+ U/C )

Renders



Izmir Halkali Pinar Sport Center ( 9,200 ) Also hosted Universiade in 2005

[bobo81]

Thank you for the pics, some nice stadiums. I really can't wait for this...

[Maximus1984]

very nice looking stads ....
really ... at least the top 4 are WOW ...

it's gonna be a nice championship too

[cardenales]

I see nice stadiums with great architecture. Very creative. I want to see Puerto Rico playing in Turkey next year.

[Levenspiel]

Antalya is out, Kayseri will replace them. This is the sports arena in Kayseri.

[Levenspiel]

Does anybody know the current status of these venues? On the official website, the address of Ankara Arena is given as "Ankara Gari Karsisi, Altindag", which is exactly the same place where the old area is. Are they renewing Ataturk Sports Hall or building a new one just next to it? And what's the completion status?