FIBA critical of Paris Olympics' plan to hold games 3 hours outside of French capital

Most basketball games at the Paris Olympics could end up being played a three-hour journey outside the French capital, a plan that was criticized by the sport's governing body on Wednesday.

Paris organizers are struggling to find a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games, and are now considering using the soccer stadium in Lille — about 210 kilometres from Paris. The original plan was to use an arena in the capital, but that venue was dropped in March amid a backlash by NBA players from France who said the ceiling was too low for basketball.

"We don't feel that our athletes should be subject to the conditions we currently have on the table," Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of world basketball body FIBA, told Paris officials Wednesday stressing "serious concerns."

If Lille is approved, the men's and women's basketball tournament would not come to Paris until the final few days of the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics. The sport is expected to be among the biggest draws at the Paris Games because of the presence of NBA and WNBA stars and the popularity of basketball in France.

Playing in Lille, located in the northeast close to the Belgian border, would leave players unable to stay in the Athletes' Village in Paris or facing three-hour transport times, Zagklis said at a meeting of the umbrella group of Summer Games sports in Lausanne.

However, Zagklis questioned if the stadium could guarantee "a safe field of play during the hottest days of summer and conditions that we can take care of the recovery and meals of the athletes."

"We feel some basic conditions for our players like in all previous Olympics should be respected," he said.

At the Tokyo Olympics last year, all basketball