Stars line up for basketball’s big day

F.I.B.A. Executive Director Nar Zanolin yesterday said there was a “fantastic atmosphere” on the eve of the “All Star Day 2005”, one of the biggest basketball events in the world, and said he was assured of its success and delighted with the choice of Cyprus as the host country.

Chairman of the Organising Committee Michael Loizides said everything has been prepared to ensure an unforgettable evening tonight for participants and spectators alike, promising entertainment, spectacle, music and a display of basketball skills.

The event, with the participation of 24 players including two from Cyprus, will take place this evening, at Nicosia’s Eleftheria Stadium.

“We look forward to an even better spectacle this year. This is a celebration for basketball, a very difficult event to organise, which will culminate in two weeks’ time in Istanbul, where the winner will be announced,” Zanolin told a press conference yesterday.

Some 40,000 people have voted online for the best basketball players and participating players were selected with the help of FIBA coaches and FIBA Europe.

Loizides said it was high time the country claimed such festivities.

“We are on the right track, ticket sales are in great demand and I am sure that if we succeed in this, more events of this caliber will follow,” Loizides, who is also the chairman of AEL club in Limassol, said.

The opening ceremony will include drummers and bouzouki players, who performed at the Olympic Games opening, rope acrobats and 14 dancers who will entertain the public to the tunes of syrtaki music.

The mascot of the games will then appear, followed by the teams. A three-point competition will also take place.

The main part of the event is a game between European and non-European players and the closing ceremony will feature Cyprus’ entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The All Star Day 2005 will be beamed live to more than ten countries and TV networks across the globe will broadcast extracts from the opening ceremony.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.