The city of Zadar, in Croatia, will be one of the host stops of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour, with the event scheduled to take place on May 15 and 16, as confirmed on Wednesday during a press conference held at the Providur’s Palace. The competition is part of an international circuit staged between April and December in only 14 selected cities worldwide.
During the presentation, Kamil Novak, Executive Director of FIBA, underlined the strategic importance of strengthening the presence of 3×3 basketball in Europe and identified Zadar as a natural choice in the development of the format. “From the perspective of FIBA Europe, it is extremely important for Europe to host new events of this format, especially after a period in which 3×3 basketball has primarily developed in Asia. The arrival of the World Tour in Croatia and in Zadar represents great value for Croatian basketball as well as for FIBA and FIBA Europe,” Novak explained, highlighting the country’s basketball tradition and the city’s strong alignment with the urban identity of the circuit.
The event will feature 14 of the world’s top-ranked teams, including one Croatian side, competing for points in the global ranking and for a total prize fund of 150,000 euros. The finals will be broadcast nationally and internationally, reaching audiences in more than 200 countries and generating over one billion views across digital and social platforms.
Institutional support and tourism impact
The Government of the Republic of Croatia has recognised the sporting, economic and promotional impact of hosting an event of this scale and will co-finance the tournament with a total contribution of three million euros over the next three years. Basketball 3×3, an Olympic discipline since the Tokyo Games, is currently one of the fastest-growing formats within the Olympic programme. Representing the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Tonči Glavina, State Secretary Josip Pavić noted that “events like this are extremely important for the development of sport and for the sports and tourism promotion of the country, particularly as they take place in May and directly contribute to the growth of year-round tourism”.
The Mayor of Zadar, Šime Erlić, emphasised the city’s deep-rooted connection with sport and, in particular, with basketball. “Zadar lives and breathes sport 365 days a year. We have outstanding individual and collective achievements, but basketball is something special and forms part of the DNA of our city,” he said, referring to the historic figures who have shaped the local sporting identity.
Erlić added that hosting the FIBA 3×3 World Tour will further strengthen the city’s international profile and consolidate its position on the European and global basketball map, thanking the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Croatia and the Croatian Basketball Federation for their support.
Dunk contest and side events
As a prelude to the main event, the weekend before will see the eighth edition of the Diadora Open, the first of ten stops on the CRO 3×3 Tour, which will travel across Croatia until the national championship finals. The Zadar tournament will begin on Friday with qualification games, while Saturday will feature the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The programme will also include a dunk contest, a shooting contest and entertainment activities between games. Admission to the stands will be free of charge, and more than 10,000 spectators are expected to attend, drawn by a fast-paced and dynamic game format that has rapidly evolved from street courts to the Olympic stage.
Olympic champion Worthy de Jong attended the presentation event and shared his personal connection to 3×3 basketball. “This format brought my passion for basketball back and reconnected me with the essence of the game. With the sea, the atmosphere and the energy of the city, Zadar is a perfect place for 3×3,” he said. Meanwhile, Nikola Rukavina, President of the Croatian Basketball Federation, highlighted that the tournament will be broadcast in more than 50 markets and reach hundreds of millions of viewers, positioning Croatia as a modern sports destination with strong international visibility.
