Official balls for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and Rio 2016 Summer Games unveiled

MIES, Switzerland/TOKYO, Japan (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and Women) - FIBA and Molten on Thursday proudly unveiled the official balls to be used at the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the Olympic Basketball Tournaments at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Molten's exclusively branded BGL7X-YG and BGL6X-YG basketballs will be used respectively in these senior men's and women's world competitions this summer.

The FIBA-approved special edition design will adorn the official balls. The expressive design reflects the movement and agility of the most elite players in the world and will add excitement to the game for players and spectators alike.

The balls will be used at the FIBA Women's Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) in Nantes (France) from 13-19 June and at the three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) taking place in Belgrade (Serbia), Turin (Italy) and Manila (Philippines) between 4-10 July with each ball reflecting the identity of the respective tournament. They will then be in play at the Olympic Basketball Tournaments for Men and Women where they will carry the official branding of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann said: “We are very excited to present these unique basketballs that will be used by the world’s best players and best teams at our biggest events of 2016. We are extremely grateful to Molten - with whom we’ve enjoyed a tremendous relationship for more than 30 years - for helping us develop these products.”

Kiyofumi Tamiaki, the President and CEO of Molten Corporation, said: "Molten is committed to developing the best sports equipment for FIBA and the larger basketball community. We are looking forward to being a part of these world-class competitions."

It is the third year in a row that Molten has produced basketballs exclusively branded for FIBA events, following on from the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and FIBA EuroBasket 2015.

While the special edition balls will be made available for sale to the general public on 1 July (click here for a list of official distributors around the world), fans and followers of FIBA across its social media platforms will have the opportunity to win a number of them over the summer.