GENEVA (FIBA) - The day before yesterday, Sunday, with the completion of the EuroBasket Women 2007, Russia was crowned European Champion while Spain and Belarus captured the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Russia will represent the Old Continent in the next Olympic Basketball Tournament for Women 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 Women that will take place from 9th to 15th June 2008, in a place to be determined, and that will grant five passports for the Beijing Olympics: Spain, Belarus, Latvia and Czech Republic.

The following 12 teams are entitled to take part in the Olympic Tournament for Women in 2008:

2 teams directly qualified:

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

5 teams directly qualified through the Continental Championships:

- Africa (1 team): MALI
- Americas (1 team): USA
- Asia (1 team): KOREA
- Europe (1 team): RUSSIA
- Oceanía (1 team): NEW ZEALAND

5 teams qualified through the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women:

The World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women will be played from 9th to 15th June 2008, in a place to be determined, and will decide the final five berths for the Beijing 2008 Tournament for Women.

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 Women. It will be a 12-team tournament which will feature: two participants from Africa (Senegal and Angola), three from the Americas (Cuba, Brazil and Argentina), two from Asia (Japan and Chinese Taipei), four from Europe (Spain, Belarus, Latvia and Czech Republic) and one from Oceania (Fiji).

Should any of the above-mentioned qualified team(s) not accept the invitation(s), 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 Women 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 system of competition for the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women 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

The four winners will qualify for the Olympic Games. The four losers will play in the Semi-Finals and Finals for one remaining qualifying place.

Semi-Finals:

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

Finals:

Game 19: Winner 17 vs. Winner 18