BERLIN (AP) — Victor Wembanyama will have a chance to play a home World Cup in 2031.
France was awarded the hosting rights to the 2031 men's tournament by basketball's governing body FIBA on Wednesday, with Japan getting the 2030 Women's World Cup.
“Japan and France are both elite organizers of global scale events, having hosted the two most recent summer Olympic Games, in 2020 and 2024 respectively,” FIBA said.
Wembanyama was one of the main attractions of the Paris Olympics as the San Antonio Spurs star led France to a silver medal, scoring 26 points in the final against the United States.
The French cities of Lyon, Lille and Paris will organize the Aug. 29-Sept. 14 men’s tournament, with the final phase to be played in the capital.
FIBA said the 2030 women’s tournament will be held Nov. 26–Dec. 8 in the Japanese capital of Tokyo.
Japan’s women also won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Japan hosted the 2006 men's world championship and was a co-host in 2023. France will organize the tournament for the first time.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the decision.
“A great source of pride for our country," Macron wrote on X. "Following the Paris Games, France confirms its ability to organize the greatest international sporting events.”
The next women’s World Cup will be held in September in Berlin while the 2027 men’s World Cup will be hosted by Qatar.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Former professional basketball player Lauren Jackson draws the lot for Germany during the draw for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP)
The tournament groups are displayed on a screen during the draw for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, stand with head coach Mitch Johnson after receiving his NBA Defensive Player of the Year trophy before Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series in San Antonio, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) — Authorities found the body of one of the six missing crew members from a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon and were searching for the rest, hoping they might have made it to a life raft.
U.S. Air Force divers used an underwater drone on Tuesday to search inside the overturned ship, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. Divers from Japan's coast guard further examined the ship, called the Mariana, but didn't find any of the other five, it said.
“Coast Guard aircrews continue to search for the five missing crewmen and an orange 12-person life raft in the vicinity of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,” the news release said.
The National Weather Service said Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest tropical cyclone this year, was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (241 kph) when it made landfall on the Northern Mariana Islands, which, like Guam to the south, are a U.S. territory.
The Coast Guard and partnering agencies from Guam, Japan and New Zealand have covered more than 99,000 square miles (256,000 square kilometers) in their search for the crew, the guard said this week.
The ship notified the U.S. Coast Guard on April 15 that the U.S.-registered vessel lost its starboard engine during the typhoon and needed assistance. The guard said it lost contact with the ship the next day.
“Our hearts are with the families of the Mariana crew members and the communities impacted by this tragic incident,” Cmdr. Preston Hieb, the search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard Oceania District, said in the statement.
Heavy wind hindered initial search efforts, but the overturned ship was eventually spotted Saturday about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Pagan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that debris including a partially submerged inflatable life raft was spotted about 110 miles (177 kilometers) from the ship.
While specific safety requirements for the 145-foot (44-meter) ship were not known, federal and international codes call for cargo ships to have life rafts stocked with food and water. The rafts have to be able to withstand exposure for 30 days, according to a code put out by the International Maritime Organization.
Sinlaku battered the Northern Mariana Islands, causing wind damage and flooding. Island ports reopened to commercial traffic this week, and the Coast Guard delivered pallets of water and supplies to areas that had been cut off.
A U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane crew assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point flies over an overturned vessel offshore Saipan, Saturday, April 18, 2026, while searching for a missing vessel, the Mariana, that experienced an engine failure April 15. (U.S. Coast Guard/Air Station Barbers Point via AP)
