Guyana’s men’s national team highest-ranked in contest

FIBA Basketball World Cup, Americas Pre-Qualifier…

The Guyana Basketball Federation (GABF) has been confirmed as one of the four national basketball federations that will be competing in the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifier in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador.
The competition dates have also been confirmed as April 14-18, 2021, which is one week later than, previously communicated. The competition schedule has been adjusted to allow for the completion of the FIBA Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) to allow national federations to field their best teams in the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup – the Americas Pre-Qualifier.
The Guyana Men’s National Team (GMNT) are expected to arrive in San Salvador on April 12 and depart April 19. The competition will be played under the round-robin format and the top three teams will advance to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifier in July 2021.
FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifier 1st round participating national teams are:
• Costa Rica (CRC)
• Guyana (GUY)
• El Salvador (ESA)
• Nicaragua (NCA)
The GMNT are the highest-ranked team in this competition according to the latest FIBA World Rankings. Guyana’s highest achieved rank was 98 in late November 2020, but the team have since fallen two spots owing to the lack of international competition.
FIBA World Rankings (WR) presented by Nike:
• Guyana (GUY) – WR 100
• Costa Rica (CRC) WR 106
• Nicaragua (NCA) – WR 116
• El Salvador (ESA) – WR -133
FIBA Americas Regional Office has provided the GABF with a comprehensive package outlining the requirements and deadlines for completing and uploading the required documents into the competition portal, including the Eligibility of Players; Preliminary Delegation List (maximum of 24); Team Doctor; COVID-19 Compliance Team Official; Pre-Travel PCR Test Results and Uniform Artwork to name a few.
FIBA has also communicated that at its discretion, doping checks can be performed at any of the venues of the event, whether at competition venue, training venues or hotel, during competition time and the GMNT must comply with any anti-doping officer according to Article 2 of the FIBA Internal Regulations, Book 4 that oversee anti-doping rule violations. All GMNT players are mandated to complete the WADA Whereabouts form as mandated by the GABF and the Guyana Olympic Association-National Anti-Doping Organisation (GOA/NADO).