Russian basketball coach confident his team will face China in at least 2 matches in June despite international ban
- Russian team has been banned by Fiba over invasion of Ukraine, but country plans to host World Friendship Games in September
- Having failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics, China’s next international tournament isn’t until 2027
China’s men’s basketball team has agreed to play at least two games against Russia in June, despite their opponents being banned from international competition.
Fiba, the sport’s world governing body, followed numerous other organisations in imposing sanctions on the country’s teams after the invasion of Ukraine.
Unable to compete in tournaments since 2022, and with its athletes allowed to take part in the Olympics only as neutrals, Russia plans to host a World Friendship Games in September.
China’s men, meanwhile, will not be playing international basketball anytime soon, having failed to qualify for this summer’s Games in Paris.
The next possible international tournament for the Chinese team will be the 2027 Fiba World Cup in Qatar, if they make it out of the Asian qualifiers, which run from November 2025 to March 2027.
In preparation for September’s event in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Russian head coach Zoran Lukic said his side would play games against China in June.
