Spain has, in its next qualifying window for the 2023 World Cup, a double duel against Ukraine: Thursday 23rd in Córdoba, Sunday 27th in Kiev… in theory. Peror are not real, right now, the chances that it will end up playing at the Sports Palace in the capital of Ukrainea team that shares Group G with Spain, Georgia and North Macedonia.
Thursday’s game in Córdoba will be played normally, but definitive news from FIBA about Sunday’s game is still awaited. The latest information comes from Ukraine: the journalist Oleksandr Proshuta assures that the Federation of this country has asked FIBA that the game be postponed and played in next summer’s Window.
With the latest movements of the Russian troops and the tense situation in Ukraine, FIBA does not want the match to be played in Kiev. Spain raised the option of playing both matches in Córdoba, but Ukraine did not see this trick with good eyes because it left them without home court factor in the match in which they would have to be local, perhaps a blow to their qualifying options. Another alternative that was being considered is to play in a neutral city, and the names of Riga or Kaunas had come up. But Ukraine’s last bet is that the game be delayed until the summer and can be played in Kiev, with the hope that by then the situation in the country will have returned to normal.