|  | Partners and Events | No.50 May 2007 |

Eurobasketball 2007 in Germany |
Europameisterinnen2005: Jubelszene nach dem EM-Finalsieg von Lille/Frankreich 2005. | GER_GRE: Szene von den Paralympics 2004 in Athen zwischen Deutschland und Griechenland.
The best European players will take part in the XVIIIth European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, called Eurobasketball 2007, from 23 August to 2 September in Wetzlar, Germany. Title defender Italy in the men’s competition and the five-times European ladies champion, Germany, will compete for the gold medal along side numerous other teams. Six ladies’ and twelve men’s teams will play a total of 64 games in the 4,000 seat Rittal-Arena and the 1,800 seat August-Bebel-Sporthalle in Wetzlar to determine who will be the continental champions. The ladies title defenders will have the support of local spectators, as with the men’s team, playing on home soil. Big international sports event Eurobasketball 2007 is an active and successful network of politics, society, economics and sport. In co-operation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin (BMI), the Hessian Federal State Government in Wiesbaden, the city of Wetzlar, the German Basketball Federation (DBB), the German Basketball League (BBL) and ING DiBA as the main sponsor of the German wheelchair basketball, were successful in their bid to host Eurobasketball 2007. In April 2005 the German Federation for Wheelchair Sports (DRS) received notice to organise the Eurobasketball 2007 from the international Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), after Wetzlar and the Rittal-Arena were generally accepted over the competing bid from Birmingham. This success is thanks to a large network of politics, sport and economics, including the DBB President, Roland Geggus, and the BBL Managing Director Jan Pommer, representatives of the BMI from Berlin and urban representatives. This network will also guarantee the success of Eurobasketball 2007. Preparations for this large international event have been underway for more than three years. Finance has been secured from Federations and the State support of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Hessian Federal State Government. Approximately 400 sportspeople, 100 officials, 400 congress participants as well as spectators from all over Europe will be guests in Wetzlar. Sponsoring partners will also be integrated: the DRS: the ING DiBa, MEYRA, Spalding and the Deutsche Bahn AG. Eurobasketball 2007 will be much more than just a competition. A European congress of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and MEYRA, sponsor of the DRS, will also take place in the form of an international youth camp and an international coaching clinic. Wetzlar Wetzlar is referred to as the German wheelchair basketball capital. With approximately 55,000 inhabitants, it is located in central Hessen, about 70 kilometres north of Frankfurt/Main. To get to Wetzlar, use the highways A45 and A5. The Rhein-Main Airport in Frankfurt/ Main is only 40 minutes away from the city. More than 4 500 visitors watched the European Champions Cup final in 2005, so many spectators are expected for Eurobasketball 2007, with the Rittal-Arena already sold out for the final days of the competition. Visitors from all over Europe will come to Wetzlar, where already up to 2 000 supporters come to watch the league matches of the local heroes and three-times winner of the Champions League, RSV Lahn Dill. School Project: wheelchair basketball - played in German schools With support of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), the organising committee of the Eurobasketball 2007 started a country-wide school project, in order to bring wheelchair basketball, the city of Wetzlar and the Rittal-Arena into focus. By taking part in a competition, all German schools have the chance to visit to Wetzlar and see Eurobasketball 2007. Furthermore, it was agreed with the Federal State of Hessen and the Federal States nearby, that all schools - with support of the Ministries for Education and Cultural – will get a free day to come to Eurobasketball 2007, if they chose to. This project commenced in spring (northern) 2007. Ambassadors President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Horst Köhler, presented an Ambassador concept for Eurobasketball 2007, to elevate the competition into the centre of public interest. Selected persons from the fields of politics, culture, economics and sport will promote Eurobasketball 2007. http://www.eurobasketball2007.de http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 Eurobasketball 2007 in Germany