Road to Paris: FIBA confirmed venues and groups for the Pre-Olympics

With the participation of 40 countries that will not be present at the World Cup that will be played in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced how the four pre-Olympic Games will be played in search of qualifying for Paris 2024.

There will be 12 teams in the Olympic Games: France has secured its place because it is the organizer, seven places will be defined in the World Cup and the remaining four will come out of a World Repechage to which these 40 countries will try to reach from the respective Pre-Olympic Games.

The Pre-Olympic Games will be played from August 12 to 20 and FIBA determined that the one in America will be held in Argentina; the one in Europe will be in Turkey (first phase), Poland and Estonia (second phase); the one in Africa will be held in Nigeria and the one in Asia has not yet been confirmed.

In America, Group A will be made up of Argentina, Cuba, Panama and Bahamas; while Group B will have Uruguay, Colombia, the Virgin Islands and Chile. The winner of the Pre-Olympic will go on to the World Repechage in search of a place in Paris 2024.

For its part, the African Olympic Qualifying Championship will have Senegal, Mali, Uganda and Nigeria in Group A; while Group B will have Congo, Cameroon, Guinea and Tunisia. The champion will move on to the next qualifying phase.

The Asian tournament will have China, Korea, India and Bahrain in Group A; while Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Syria will play in Group B. As in America and Africa, only the winner will go on to the Repechage.

Europe, meanwhile, will have two places available in search of the Olympic Games: the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Israel and Estonia will be in Group A; Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in Group B; Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Iceland will play in Group C and in Group D the Netherlands, Croatia, Belgium and Sweden will play.

The Olympic Qualifying Champion from America, Africa and Asia, plus the two qualifiers for Europe, will play the World Repechage in search of the last four places for Paris 2024.

The Repechage will have a total of 24 countries (they will be divided into four zones of six) and the other 19 selected will leave the World Cup that will be played in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

The qualifying criteria for the Repechage World Cup will be as follows: the best in America, Africa and Asia that does not have their place guaranteed in the Olympic Games and the remaining 16 best that do not have a place for Paris 2024 either.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) followed the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and determined that those teams from Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in the qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“In accordance with the recommendations of the IOC regarding the participation of athletes with Russian or Belarusian nationality in international competitions published on March 28, the FIBA Executive Committee decided not to authorize the registration of Russian and Belarusian national teams in Olympic pre-qualification tournaments,” the organization said in a statement.

Because of this situation, Bulgaria, which was the best unranked European nation, will have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Qualifying Championship as specified by FIBA.