FIBA World Cup was held for the first time in 1950. The competition was marked by two large incidents and political aspirations.
People were still recovering after the World War II, but in 1948 FIBA Congress met in London during the Olympic Games. It was decided on that conference that the first World Cup will be played in Argentina.
Argentina was chosen because of its neutrality in the World War II. Therefore in “Luna Park Arena” from October 22nd to November 3rd the best teams in the world gathered.
Teams that competed
It was first planned that every continent gives two teams. Travel was not easy in that time. Air travel was not yet developed, therefore instead of two Asian teams, two European teams were added. Those were Yugoslavia and Spain.
Three best teams from the last Olympics (USA, France and Brazil) were chosen to play. Uruguay, Chile and Peru qualified also, but Uruguay refused to participate in the tournament for political reasons. Argentine Government didn`t want to give them visas and instead of them, Ecuador was invited.
Miracle from Northern Africa
Egypt qualified for this tournament as European champions. Yes you read that right. Team Egypt were European champions. This country hosted the Eurobasket a year before and because of travelling issues only four of the seven participants were from the Old Continent.
Also, Egpyt has one more medal from this tournament. It was in 1947 when they finished third at Eurobasket. These nine national teams were participants of the inaugural World Cup, plus the host Argentina.
Incidents
Unfortunately, the FIBA World Cup 1950 were marked by a couple of incidents. First one happened in the game between France and Egypt. The team from Africa triumphed by 31:28, but the result was overlooked because due to referee`s mistake. France threatened to leave the competition, while Egypt refused to replay the game. Fortunately, things calmed down and the tournament continued.
The second incident happened at the game between Spain and Yugoslavia. Spain was ruled by Francisco Franco, whose politics did not allign with Yugoslavia, so they refused to play. Spain were awarded with a 2:0 win.
As a result of not playing, FIBA suspended Nebojsa Popovic and Borislav Bora Stankovic. Later on Stankovic was general secretary of FIBA and Popovic was president of the Yugoslavian Olympic Comitee. Both men were inducted to the Hall of Fame.
The biggest surprise of the tournament
The biggest surprise were actually the hosts, Argentina. At the previous Olympics they were dead last and nobody gave them any chance to make a good result. They blew everyone’s expectations and won the gold medal against USA in the final game (64:50). Argentina was the only team that surpassed the 60 point mark during the FIBA World Cup 1950.
Argentina didn’t lose a single game during the tournament and in front of 15.000 people celebrated at the Luna Park. In Buenos Aires the people burned newspapers and that is how the Argentine traditon called “The Night of Torches” has started.
The best team at this tournament were:
- Alvaro Sanadores, Spain
- Oscar Furlong, Argentina
- John Stanich, USA
- Rufino Bernedo, Chile
- Ricardo Gonzales, Argentina
Some interesting facts
The first points ever at the World Cup were scored by Nebojsa Popovic, Yugoslav basketball player. He scored the first basket against Peru. His team played three matches at the championship and lost all three.
Alvaro Sanadores was the tournament top scorer. He was born in Chile and his life story is a bit bizzare. Emigrating to Spain, he was actually kidnapped as a child, but he was quickly returned to his parents. Salvadores scored 13.8 points per average and two years later he decides to play for Chile. On this tournament, Chile won a bronze medal.
United States did not take this championship seriously. The first American team was created by the factory team of car makers „Chevrolet“. Players were actually people that worked at factories. Still it was good enough for them to win a silver medal losing only one game. The final one against Argentina.