section_path: Culture/Sport
section_name: Sport
paragraph_text: Sport
  
  Amongst its major sports venues, Basel features a large football stadium that has been awarded four stars by UEFA, a modern ice hockey arena, and a sports hall.
  
  The football club FC Basel is successful and in recognition of this the city was one of the Swiss venues for the 2008 European Championships, along with Geneva, Zürich and Bern. The championships were jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria. BSC Old Boys and Concordia Basel are the other football teams in Basel.
  
  Among the most popular sports in Switzerland is ice hockey. Basel is home to EHC Basel, who play in the MySports League, the third tier of the Swiss ice hockey league system. They play their home games in the 6,700-seater St. Jakob Arena. The team previously played in the National League and the Swiss League, but filed for bankruptcy after the 2013–14 Swiss League season.
  
  Basketball has a very small but faithful fan base. The top division, called the SBL, is a semi-professional league and has one team from the Basel region, the "Birstal Starwings". One player from Switzerland is currently active in the NBA, Clint Capela. As in most European countries, but unlike the U.S., Switzerland has a club-based rather than a school-based competition system. The Starwings Basel are the only first division basketball team in German-speaking Switzerland.
  
  A large indoor tennis event takes place in Basel every October. Some of the best ATP -professionals play every year at the Swiss Indoors, previously including Switzerland's biggest sporting hero Roger Federer, a Basel native who describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".
  
  In July 2022, the women's water polo players of the WSV Basel secured their 11th national championship title.
  
  Basel GAA, a Gaelic games club, is also located in Basel. Basel Dragons AFC have been playing Australian Football in the AFL Switzerland league since 2019.
  
  The annual Basel Rhine Swim draws several thousand visitors to the city to swim in or float on the Rhine.
  
  The headquarters of the IHF (International Handball Federation) is located in Basel.