FIBA announced that the Philippines will be one of the three hosts for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament "set for July 4-10." The other two nations to host the tournament "are Italy and Serbia." The tournament "will see 18 national teams from FIBA's primary events" divided into three competitions of six. The winner from each tilt, for a total of three countries, "will qualify for Rio 2016." The draw "will take place" Jan. 26 (RAPPLER, 1/19). ... The Dalat 1200 Ladies Golf Championship will be held on March 22-27 "in the Highland city of Da Lat." It will be the first time an int'l professional tournament for females "has been held in Vietnam." As many as 120 athletes have registered, "from South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong and others." The winner of the event "will walk away" with $84,000, with total prize money at the event totaling $420,000 (VIETNAM NEWS, 1/20). ... Bilbao, Spain Mayor Juan Mari Aburto said on Monday that he has held talks with Tour de France organizer ASO about the city "being able to host a stage of the race in the next few years." Bilbao will this year host a stage of the Vuelta a España. Aburto said that this will cost €120,000 ($131,000), which will be compensated by the economic impact and promotion for the city, which he estimates will be worth €250,000 ($273,000) (MARCA, 1/18). ... The Hurlingham Polo Association "is set to bring in sin-binning across all forms of polo" for the '16 season as the governing body "seeks to clamp down on dangerous play and abuse of umpires." HPA CEO David Woodd said, "We've got a meeting in February where we are discussing [the details of it] and I'm trying to put it into words [for the Blue Book]" (London TELEGRAPH, 1/18). ... Tennis ACT officials raised concerns about potential "courtsiders" at two recent ATP tournaments in the capital, "approaching spectators to ask them to stop using mobile devices as part of the sport's anti-corruption measures." Canberra hosted two tournaments -- the A$50,000 ($34,600) Canberra Int'l in November and the Canberra 75K ATP Challenger event last week in the build-up the Australian Open -- as the sport "rides the wave" of Nick Kyrgios' int'l success. Tennis ACT CEO Ross Triffitt believes Canberra officials "have done everything possible to protect the sport's integrity and hoped untoward action could be stamped out" (CANBERRA TIMES, 1/19).
