3×3 basketball at the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games will carry direct value on the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The competition will feature 18 men’s teams and 14 women’s teams, with results contributing to the FIBA 3×3 Federation Ranking, the federation ranking that forms part of the discipline’s Olympic qualification process.
The tournament’s competitive weight comes from the new 24-month ranking system, in force from 1 December 2025 and running until December 2027. That ranking will be one of the main routes to Los Angeles 2028, with five Olympic berths per gender allocated through federation standings and six more per gender decided through qualifying tournaments in 2028. Every result between now and the end of 2027 will therefore carry added value within the Olympic 3×3 map.
A Mediterranean tournament with Olympic value
Taranto 2026’s inclusion in that pathway reinforces the growth of 3×3 across Mediterranean countries and turns the tournament into more than a regional event. The International Committee of Mediterranean Games -ICMG/CIJM- and FIBA are therefore offering players and federations from the Mediterranean area a concrete opportunity to gain performance, points and position within the process leading towards the Olympic dream of Los Angeles 2028.
The tournament will take place from 29 August to 2 September 2026 at the Giardini Peripato, a historic site in the centre of Taranto renovated specifically for the Games. The choice of venue fits the urban identity of 3×3: a fast, high-intensity discipline, played on one basket and associated with open spaces, close crowds and compact competition.
Taranto 2026 enters its decisive phase
The sporting relevance of 3×3 comes at a key moment for the wider organisation of Taranto 2026. Massimo Ferrarese, Extraordinary Commissioner and President of the Organising Committee, has become one of the central figures in the institutional and operational delivery of the Games, with an agenda focused on accelerating works, coordinating venues and ensuring that the event reaches its final phase with its main structures ready.
Recent progress shows that the organisation has entered a phase of verification, not only construction. PalaRicciardi has entered its final phase as an indoor athletics facility, while PalaWojtyla, in Martina Franca, has already hosted operational tests to analyse spectator flows, access and technical functioning. Work on the Magna Grecia Tennis Center is also continuing, with eight courts planned as one of the central facilities in the programme.
What remains to be completed
The final stretch still requires decisive elements to be completed: venues, logistics, accommodation, transport, operations, coordination with national Olympic committees and functional testing. The Chefs de Mission Seminar, held from 27 to 29 March 2026, was already presented by the ICMG and the Organising Committee as an acceleration milestone in preparations, with the participation of delegations, institutions, national Olympic committees and international federations.
The countdown will also have a symbolic moment with the 100-days-to-go event, designed to assess progress on works and preparations with the presence of Minister Andrea Abodi and Ferrarese. In that context, 3×3 gives Taranto 2026 an element of Olympic visibility within Mediterranean Games that no longer function only as a regional event, but also as a platform for development, ranking and legacy. For FIBA, it is an extension of 3×3 growth; for Taranto, an opportunity to show organisation and renovated spaces; and for the teams, a concrete step on the road to Los Angeles 2028.
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