The Spanish Basketball Federation ( RFEB) on Thursday officially bid to host the 2014 Basketball World Championships.

The federation wants to host the 2014 World Championships as a follow-up to the 2007 European Championships, where they won the silver medal.

Should they be awarded, the 2014 World Championships would be the culmination of a magnificent period for the sport of basketball in the country.

The Spanish men's team were crowned World Champions in Japan in 2006 and a year later finished second in the European Championships, losing the final, held in Madrid, to Russia.

2008 saw no let-up to Spain's success as the men won the silver medal in the Olympic Games held in Beijing, only losing out in a close final to the United States. Now the RFEB wants to consolidate the sport by hosting the 2014 World Championships in Spain.

According to the President of the RFEB, Jose Luis Saez, eight cities would host the event: Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Granada, Las Palmas, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Bilbao.

"It is a dream to be able to have a World Championship here in Spain. There has not been once held here since 1986," said Saez on the RFEB website.

"We are a country that loves basketball and we have the capacity to organize and the infrastructure. If we had to hold a World Championship tomorrow, I have no doubt we could do it, this is not a question of faith, but a project based on science. FIBA have seen how we work on every aspect of the game.

"2014 is not a date in the future. It has already started for us," said Saez.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2008)