Turkey to compete against Russia, Serbia, Latvia, Belgium and Great Britain in FIBA EuroBasket 2017
Former basketball players Turkish Mirsad Turkcan, Romanian Gheorghe Muresan, Israeli Mickey Berkowitz , Finnish Hanno Mottola pose for media during the draw of FIBA EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul. (EPA Photo)


Turkey will be competing against Serbia, Russia, Latvia, Belgium and Great Britain in group D of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017, with the honor of serving as one of the host nations for the much-awaited tournament.

The draw among 24 teams which will be competing in four groups of six teams was announced Tuesday in a ceremony in Istanbul.OFFICIAL GROUP A, Eurobasket Draw - Helsinki, FinlandGreeceFranceFinlandIcelandSloveniaPolandOFFICIAL GROUP B, Eurobasket Draw - Tel Aviv, IsraelItalyGermanyItalyIsraelLithuaniaGeorgiaUkraineOFFICIAL GROUP C, Eurobasket Draw - Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaSpainRomaniaHungaryCroatiaCzech RepublicMontenegroOFFICIAL GROUP D, Eurobasket Draw - Istanbul, TurkeySerbiaTurkeyRussiaLatviaBelgiumGreat Britain

FIBA EuroBasket 2017 will take place from 31 August to 17 September.Turkey will be the host of the 2017 European Basketball Championship finals and matches of group D at the qualifying stage.

As one of the four host federations, Turkey chose Russia as its partner federation.

Finland, Israel and Romania will host the remaining group matches -- group A, B and C respectively -- at the qualifying stage.Istanbul will host the matches of group D at the qualifying stage and final stage that will be participated by 16 teams. Group stage matches will played in the Abdi İpekçi Arena, which hosted the 2001 European Championship finals. The final stage matches will be played in Sinan Erdem Sports Complex, which hosted the finals in 2010 FIBA World Championship.Turkey previously hosted 2001 Men's European Championship, 2005 Women's European Championship, 2010 FIBA Men's World Championship and 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship.