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2022 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships originally scheduled for 16 – 27 November 2022 have been postponed until 9 – 20 June 2023.
Hosts United Arab Emirates will welcome over 300 international wheelchair basketball players representing 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams to compete over twelve days of competition at the showcase event.
The IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championship is the largest international wheelchair basketball competition featuring the best men’s and women’s national teams from around the world. Held every four years, it is the pinnacle event for the sport.
The tournament began with the first unofficial Men’s World Championships in 1973 in Bruges, Belgium, which also hosted the first official Men’s World Championships, known as the Gold Cup, in 1975. The Women's World Championships followed 15 years later, debuting in 1990 with eight teams competing in St. Etienne, France.
Teams earn their place in the championship by qualifying through zonal tournaments, held across the IWBF's four Zones—Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia Oceania—making this event a true global showcase of talent and competition.
9/6/2023 – 17:30 (GST) – Opening Ceremony
9/6/2023 – 14/6/2023 – Men’s Group Games & Women’s Group Games
15/6/2023 – Men’s Final 16 / Women’s Group Games
16/6/2023 – Men’s Quarter Finals / Women’s Group Games
17/6/2023 – Men’s Classification Games / Women’s Quarter Finals
18/6/2023 – Men’s and Women’s Semi-Finals / Women’s Classification & Placing Games
19/6/2023 – Placing Games (Men 5-12, Women 5-8)
20/6/2023 – Men’s and Women’s Medal Games (Gold and Bronze Games)
The groups for the 2022 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships were decided in a ceremony held at the Dubai Sports Council on Wednesday 8 February, 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams discovered who they would meet in the preliminary stages of the competition.
The confirmed groups are:
Women’s Competition
Men’s Competition
The qualification tournaments for the 2022 World Championships took place in all four Zones:
The Zonal spots for each competition were determined from the final standings of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Final qualification places for the 2022 World Championships.
*including UAE as Host Nation in both Men and Women
Women: Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands & Spain
Men: France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands
Women: Algeria
Men: Egypt
Women: Australia, Japan, Thailand*, China*
Men: Australia, Iran, Korea, Thailand, Iraq, United Arab Emirates
Women: Canada, USA, Brazil
Men: USA, Argentina, Canada, Brazil
*China and Thailand replace their zonal counterpart Iran and United Arab Emirates in the women’s competition.