The 1963 FIBA World Championship was the 4th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The competition was hosted by Brazil from 12 to 25 May 1963.
The Philippines was originally awarded the right to host the tournament, but FIBA rescinded this after the Filipino immigration officials refused to grant visas to players from communist countries.
Brazil, the defending champion and a previous host, re-host the championship from 12 to 25 May 1963, and won the first back to back title with just six games, seeding the well-rested host team in the final round only.
Background
The Philippines was supposed to host the FIBA World Championship in 1962 but FIBA revoked hosting rights after the government of then President Diosdado Macapagal, refused to grant visas to players and officials of socialists countries including Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.[1][2]
The FIBA World Championship was held in 1963 in Brazil.
Competing nations
Suspension
FIBA suspended the original host country, the Philippines, after Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal refused to allow players from Yugoslavia and other communist countries to enter the country.
Brazil, being the defending champion and a previous host, managed to re-host the championship.
Later, the Philippines, despite being the Asian champion, were forced to play in a pre-Olympic tournament in order to qualify for the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Competition format
Preliminary round: Three groups of four teams play each other once; top two teams progress to the final round, bottom two teams relegated to classification round.
Classification round: All bottom two teams from preliminary round group play each other once. The team with the best record is ranked eighth; the worst is ranked 13th.
Final round: All top two teams from preliminary round group, the 1960 Olympic champion, and the host team play each other once. The team with the best record wins the championship.
Preliminary round
Group A
Source: FIBA archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Group B
Source: FIBA archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Group C
Source: FIBA archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Classification round
Source: FIBA archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored. Notes:
^ a b cHead-to-head record: Mexico 1–1 (1.07 GAvg), Uruguay 1–1 (1.01 GAvg), Canada 1–1 (0.92 GAvg)
Final round
Yugoslavia's Radivoj Korać versus USA's Ed Smallwood in the Final round. Yugoslavia won the contest 75–73.
Source: FIBA archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored. (C) Champions; (H) Hosts
