New dates for the Men’s European Championship for Small Countries, due to be held in Limerick have been confirmed. The 2020 tournament, which was postponed in April because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will now take place from June 28th to July 3rd 2021 at the University of Limerick.
The board of FIBA Europe has also confirmed the dates for the rescheduled Women’s European Championship for Small Countries. It will be held in Cyprus from June 15th - 20th, 2021.
Ireland will compete in both the men’s and women’s FIBA European Championships at U16, U18, U20 and Small Countries levels in summer 2021.
Commenting on the announcement, CEO of Basketball Ireland Bernard O’Byrne said; “We are looking forward to hosting the Men’s European Championship for Small Countries in 2021 at the University of Limerick. While it was very disappointing to postpone the European Championships this year due to Covid-19, the wait will make for bigger and better championships next year.
Our men’s and women’s coaches can now prepare accordingly for summer 2021. This announcement follows the recent positive news of Basketball in Ireland returning to pre-season training on July 20th, subject to review and in accordance with government guidance.”
Ireland men’s coach Mark Keenan said; “We are delighted to hear that the European Championship for Men’s Small Countries will be held next year at the University of Limerick. We were all a bit disappointed that things were cancelled this year but with Covid-19, it was out of her hands. We won’t be getting the squad together during the Domestic league and there’s some good news there in terms of getting back to play. We are excited to get back on the court and having that extra year to prepare for 2021 will hopefully give us a good platform.”
Ireland women’s coach James Weldon said; “We welcome today’s news from FIBA that our European Championships have been rescheduled for June 15th 2021. We are currently in contact with the squad and looking to get the players into a mini-camp at Christmas time, after that we will be narrowing down the squad in the lead-up to the June Championships.
