The fourth FIBA World Cup was held in Brazil, but after a huge scandal with the initial host – the Philippines.
The first years of the World Cup organization passed in numerous scandals. In the 1950, a decision was made to hold a tournament every four years, but this tradition was already abandoned after the tournament in 1954.
You have already read on our website about the championship from 1959, which threatened to be one of the most controversial ever.
13 teams went on the campaign for the trophy in 1963, but not in the country that was initially supposed to host this tournament. You will read about this scandal, but also about the basketball players Pele and Garrincha, in the next few minutes.
Change of tournament host
The biggest scandal that marked the World Cup 1963 happened even before its official start. The Philippines was seen as an ideal destination for the tournament. The preparations were largely ready, but then came a real shock.
The government led by President Diosdado Macapagal decided not to issue visas to players and team officials from socialist countries, including primarily Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. This was followed by the reaction of FIBA, which had to take measures.
The decision was made to take away the organization of the FIBA World Cup 1963 from the Philippines. A replacement had to be found quickly, and the ideal decision was to move the tournament to Brazil. The winner of the previous World Cup agreed and five cities were ready to welcome the world’s best national teams for the second time in nine years.
It is clear that the Philippines could not escape punishment. In addition to the fact that they were kicked out of the competition, they had to pay $2,000, and it didn’t end there either. Although as Asian champions they were guaranteed a spot at the Olympic Games, it was decided that they still had to play a qualifying tournament for the 1964 appearance, which in the end they didn’t even pass.
13 national teams and the return to summer
In the period from May 12 to 25 (unlike the previous championship, which was played in the winter), in addition to the host of the tournament, the following national teams participated in Brazil: the Soviet Union, France, Uruguay, Canada, Yugoslavia, Puerto Rico, Japan, Peru, the United States, Italy, Mexico and Argentina.
Special invitations went to Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada from America, Italy was invited from Europe, while Japan was subsequently invited from Asia. Unlike the previous two tournaments, there was no Formosa national team at this championship, which recorded extremely good results in the aforementioned competitions.
As the host of the competition, Brazil automatically secured placement to the final round, while 12 teams were divided into three groups. The hosts were joined in the final round by the Soviet Union, France, Yugoslavia, Puerto Rico, Italy and the United States. Just like four years earlier, the system awarded the title to the team that had the best score after all the matches played against each other.
Already in the first round we saw a surprise. Yugoslavia opened this phase of the competition very well by beating the USA 75:73. Their hopes of eventual title winning lasted until the fourth round and clash against Brazil. The home team played an extremely dominant match and remained undefeated by 90:79.
Years later, Yugoslavian player Ivo Daneu said in a FIBA documentary: “Brazil had a great team back then. We simply had no chance.”
Great rivalry from the previous World Cup
The rivalry between Brazil and the Soviet Union dates back to the FIBA World Cup 1959, because the Soviets were left without a gold medal “administratively” even though they were the best on the court, beating the Brazilians. There were motives on both sides, but only one team could stay at the maximum score after five played rounds.
Brazil showed that the crown from four years ago was not just a mixture of politics and coincidence, and they achieved easy win (90:79). Amaury Pasos, Wlamir Marques and Victor Mirshauswka were great, scoring 63 points combined, only 16 less than the entire team of the Soviet Union.
With the triumph against Soviet Union, Brazil secured the gold medal. However, they also wanted a victory against the USA in the last round in order to maintain the maximum record. The Americans defeated them at the “American Games” only a few weeks earlier, so there was also a “revenge motive”. In the end, that’s what happened, and Brazil won 85:81.
The best game of the tournament
The aforementioned defeat of the Soviet Union opened the opportunity for Yugoslavia, led by Radivoj Korac, to win a silver medal. Given that both teams were defeated by Brazil, their duel in the last round directly decided the color of the medal that one or the other team would be satisfied with. It was the first time for both teams to be decorated with any medal at the FIBA World Cup in their history.
In an excellent and dramatic game, Yugoslavia won by 69:67, securing silver and a record of five wins and one loss. This duel was marked as the best game of the tournament in years to come. A meeting between two coaching magicians, Alexander Gomelsky and Aleksandar Nikolic.
The greatest credit for the Yugoslavia victory belongs to Nemanja Djuric, who played the game of his career in that sixth round. He scored 32 points and, with the help of Radivoj Korac and Ivo Daneu, brought the first and historic medal to his country. This very silver was the introduction to the golden period of Yugoslav basketball from 1963 to 2002. For the defeated team, Gennadi Volnov stood out with 14 points.
All-Tournament Team and Most Valuable Players
The MVP award that eluded Wlamir Marques four years ago ended up in his hands this time. In addition, the Brazilian was part of the All-Tournament team for the third time in a row, thus becoming the first basketball player in history to be in the best team three times.
Teammate from the national team – Amaury Pasos this time had to settle for only a place in the All-Tournament team (he was MVP four years earlier), and it also included Aleksander Petrov (Soviet Union), American Don Kojis and French Maxime Dorigo.
The public debated for a long time whether Radivoj Korac had to find a place among the aforementioned five, considering that the Yugoslav basketball player was the fourth best scorer of the tournament, and at the same time the best player of the second-placed team of the World Cup 1963.
Basketball’s own Pele and Garrincha
On the other hand, Pasos and Marques have gained enormous popularity in Brazil. To put it mildly. It is clear to all sports fans what the names Pele and Garrincha represent in Brazil. In that aspect, the only ones who probably ever managed to approach them are Amaury and Wlamir.
The popularity and influence they had on the development of sports in the South American country is admirable, and the love of the fans directed towards the mentioned duo is absolutely justified. Marques spent his entire career in Brazil, and he and Pasos brought two more medals to the national team at major competitions.
Wlamir was part of the team that won silver in Yugoslavia in 1970, while Pasos won bronze three years earlier in Uruguay. However, you will be able to read more about the mentioned championships on the Basketball Sphere website in the coming days.