FIBA postponed four 2027 World Cup qualifying games that were set for early next week in Lebanon and Qatar, the international basketball federation announced Saturday.
The decision came hours after the United States and Israel launched military airstrikes on major cities in Iran, including the nation’s capital, Tehran. President Donald Trump announced on social media that heavy bombing in Iran would continue “uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective.”
The Iranian government confirmed Sunday that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader since 1989, was killed in the attack. Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes Saturday at Israel and U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf region, including in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“In light of the developments today in the region, FIBA has decided to postpone all games in groups C and D of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers that were scheduled for Monday, March 2,” the organization said in a statement.
Monday’s planned slate of qualifiers included Iraq-Jordan, Iran-Syria and Lebanon-India, which were to be held in Zouk Mikael, Lebanon, and Qatar-Saudi Arabia, which was to be held in Doha, Qatar. FIBA said the games will be rescheduled for the same locations in late June, at the start of the next World Cup qualifying window.
“FIBA remains in close contact with the national federations concerned,” according to the statement, “and is taking necessary measures with respect to the safety and security of teams, officials and staff involved in those games.”
Monday’s postponed games were part of the second qualifying window for the 2027 FIBA World Cup. Over six qualifying windows between November 2025 and March 2027, 80 national teams from Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe will compete for 32 berths in the final tournament, which Qatar will host in late summer 2027.
