2022 will be basketball year: Sports minister

ANKARA

Türkiye is hopeful to achieve successes in two major basketball tournaments and sees 2022 as a basketball year, the country’s Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu has said.

Visiting the Turkish national basketball team’s camp, the minister congratulated the team members upon the upcoming match on July 3.

At the mentioned date, Türkiye will host Great Britain in Istanbul in the FIBA 2023 World Cup Qualifications’ first match.

In 2022, Türkiye will also compete in the European Basketball Championships.

“Türkiye is a sports country and basketball is a pioneer example of it. As a country, we have some special hope and expectations from you,” the minister said in his speech to the players.

“I am sure that we will leave 2022 behind with great achievements,” he noted and added: “No doubt that you will make the entire 85 million nation proud.”

Ergin Ataman, the head coach of the national team as well as Anadolu Efes, in May, had pledged to win the European Championships.

“My next target is to achieve successes with the national team. I am now concentrating on winning the European Championships,” he said.