The government on Tuesday decided to allocate EUR 2.7 million to the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) to bid to host the 2024 Paris Olympics basketball qualification tournament in Latvia.
The tournament will take place from July 2 to 7, 2024, with a total of nine games. Each team will play between two and four games, depending on the results of the matches. Nine of the 11 European teams are among the top 12 in the world rankings, “which shows that the main battle will be between the European teams”, according to the Ministry of Education and Science.
The EUR 2,718,839 allocated to the Latvian Basketball Association to bid for the tournament will cover the costs of the application to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Of this, the LBS has to pay EUR 20,753 to FIBA this year for the application fee, EUR 2,386,733 for the license fee and EUR 311,353 for the deposit payment.
If Latvia wins the right to host the Paris Olympics qualifying group tournament, an additional EUR 2,069,330 will be needed from the 2024 budget. The total state budget funding needed to organize the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification tournament is EUR 4,788,169, according to estimates by the Ministry of Education and Science.
If Latvia is not awarded the right to host a qualifying group tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the state budget funding will be reimbursed to the national budget.
It is estimated that up to ten thousand fans of foreign teams could attend the basketball group tournament if Latvia is awarded the right to host the Olympic qualification tournament. According to the calculation methodology developed by the Ministry of Economy, the Latvian state budget would gain up to EUR 2.6 million in value added tax (VAT) revenue from the spending of foreign fans.
Source: BNS
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