World Cup final stage games relocated to smaller Philippines arena / News - Basketnews.com

For logistical reasons, the final phase of the 2023 World Cup will not take place at the Philippine Arena, a 55,000-seat venue. Instead, it will take place at the MOA Arena, a 15,000-seat venue.

Credit: MOA Arena Credit MOA Arena

The Philippine Arena was heralded as one of the top attractions of the 2023 World Cup, set to start on August 25. Based on the original scheduling, the 50,000-seat stadium would host the games of the first stage held in the Philippines and the entire final round. But that won't happen.

As FIBA informed, it was decided that the stadium will host only two matches of the first round, while final round games will be hosted in the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines. The reason is purely practical, since in previous events hosted at the venue in recent months, there were problems had been noticed

Games played during the international windows have highlighted significant accessibility issues, with the venue located 30 kilometers from downtown Manila with no public transport nearby. A motorway was inaugurated in 2021 but full-scale tests could only take place from November 2022, once the Covid restrictions were lifted.

However, FIBA informed that "the latest events have demonstrated serious traffic and transport problems to the Philippine Arena."

Despite potential improvements being tested with transport and traffic engineers, the board came to the conclusion that an event with multiple games in one day, such as the World Cup finals, could not achieve the standards required for player and fan experience.

Thus, the final stages of the World Cup have been relocated to the Mall of Asia Arena, a 15,000-seat hall located in Pasay, a much more central district of Manila. However, in order to keep the hope of breaking the attendance record intact, the Philippine Arena will host the two opening group fixtures of the local national team.

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