GENEVA (2008 Beijing Olympics) - With the completion of the EuroBasket 2007, Russia was crowned European Champion while Spain and Lithuania have captured the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Russia and Lithuania join Spain (already qualified as 2006 World Champion) as the representatives from the Old Continent in the next Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men that will take place in Beijing, China, from 9th to 24th August 2008.

In addition, the following four European teams have gained a berth in the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men that will take place in mid-July 2008 and that will grant three passports for the Beijing Olympics: Greece, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia.
   
The following 12 teams are entitled to take part in the Olympic Tournament for Men in 2008:

2 teams directly qualified:

- The host nation: CHINA
- The Gold medalist of the 2006 FIBA World Championship: SPAIN


7 teams directly qualified through the Continental Championships:

- Africa (1 team): ANGOLA
- Americas (2 teams): USA and ARGENTINA
- Asia (1 team): IRAN
- Europe (2 teams): RUSSIA and LITHUANIA
- Oceanía (1 team): AUSTRALIA


3 teams qualified through the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men:

The World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men will be played in mid-July 2008, in a place to be determined, and will decide the final three berths for Beijing 2008.

The best placed non-qualified teams for the Olympic Games from the five Zones will be entitled to participate in the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men. It will be a 12-team tournament which will feature: two participants from Africa (Cameroon and Cape Verde), three from the Americas (Puerto Rico, Brazil and Canada), two from Asia (Lebanon and Korea), four from Europe (Greece, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia) and one from Oceania (New Zealand).

Should any of the above-mentioned qualified team(s) not accept the invitation, the next best non-qualified team(s) from the same Zone will be entitled to participate.

The organizer and venue of the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men will be decided amongst the candidatures received from the 12 participant teams during the Central Board meeting that will take place in Chicago (USA) on 8th and 9th December 2007. The bidding process to stage the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men will start as of next week. 

The system of competition for the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men will be as follows:

Preliminary Round:

The 12 participating teams will be divided into four groups (A, B, C and D) of three teams each. Each team will play all the other teams in its own group. The teams placed 1st and 2nd in each group will play in the Quarter-Finals; the teams placed 3rd in each group will go home. A total of 12 games will be played in the Preliminary Round.

Quarter-Finals:

Game 13: A1 vs. B2
Game 14: B1 vs. A2
Game 15: C1 vs. D2
Game 16: D1 vs. C2

Semi-Finals:

Game 17: Winner 13 vs. Winner 15
Game 18: Winner 14 vs. Winner 16

The two winners will qualify for the Olympic Games. The two losers will play in the Finals the game for the 3rd place (Game 20 below) for one remaining qualifying place.

Finals:

Game 19: Winner 17 vs. Winner 18
Game 20: Loser 17 vs. Loser 18