The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Organizing Committee has named Chinese basketball star Yao Ming the first official ambassador for the tournament, China News Service reported. The announcement was made on Dec. 4 in Beijing. This is the first time that China will hold the Basketball World Cup, the world’s top basketball tournament.

　　2019年国际篮联篮球世界杯组委会任命中国篮球界传奇人物姚明为首位官方形象大使，据中国新闻网报道。该项任命于12月4日在北京宣布。2019篮球世界杯是中国首次举办世界顶级篮球赛事。

　　On Sunday, FIBA celebrated 1,000 days until the 2019 event in China. Yao Ming, who achieved stardom by representing China’s national team at two FIBA Basketball World Cups and three Olympic Games, noted that "many players invest a lot of time and effort to maintain the best conditions and build better teams to win. However, there is much work to be done behind the scenes, such as improving stadiums and advertisements to attract more fans."

　　12月4日，国际篮联在北京举办2019篮球世界杯倒计时1000天活动。作为两届男篮世锦赛和三届奥运会的参与者，姚明坦言：“许多球员每天投入大量时间和多精力训练以保持最佳状态，为了建设更好的团队为比赛而奋斗。不过，幕后还有更多工作，比如要把场馆建立得更加完善，赛事组织推广做得更好，吸引更多球迷了解篮球运动的魅力。”

　　As an ambassador for the 2019 games, Yao said he will actively encourage the public, and especially youth, to participate in basketball and pay attention to the Basketball World Cup. The 2019 tournament has already received a great deal of attention, not only because it will select seven qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but also because it will feature 32 teams for the first time.

　　作为2019年篮球世界杯的形象大使，姚明表示他会积极推动公众，尤其是年轻人参与篮球运动，关注篮球世界杯。2019年的赛事已经备受关注，不仅因其将产生7个直通2020东京奥运会的参赛资格，还因它是首次有32支球队参加比赛。

　　"The 2019 Basketball World Cup will start from the qualifying match and gradually approach the climax," said Markus Studer, FIBA’s chief operating officer. The qualification process will begin in November 2017 and last 18 months. Eighty national teams will compete for 31 seats, including five African teams, seven American teams, seven Asian teams and 12 European teams. As the host country, China qualifies automatically.

　　“2019年篮球世界杯将从预选赛开始逐渐打出高潮。”国际篮联CEO马库斯.斯图德说。预选赛将从2017年11月开始，持续一年半的时间。有80支国家队争取31个参赛席位，其中包括5支非洲国家队、7支美洲国家队、7支亚洲国家队和12支欧洲国家队。作为主办国，中国国家队自动获得参赛资格。

　　From Aug. 31 to Sept. 15, 2019, 32 basketball teams from all over the world will participate in 92 games in eight Chinese cities.

　　2019年8月31日至9月15日，32支世界篮球劲旅将在中国的8大城市分别举行共计92场比赛。

（编辑：何莹莹）