MIES (Switzerland) - Twenty-four nations anxiously await the start of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024 which will determine the final four countries that will play in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here is everything you need to know about the events which are taking place July 2-7.
How many Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) are there?
There is a total of four OQTs: three in Europe and one the Americas.
Which nations are hosting the OQTs?
Puerto Rico is hosting the OQT in the Americas in San Juan with the games being played in Coliseum Jose Miguel Agrelot "El Choli".
Greece will be hosting one of the European OQTs with the games being played at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus.
Latvia will also be hosting one of the European OQTs, and the Arena Riga in the capital Riga will be the host venue.
The other OQT in Europe will be played in Valencia, Spain with the games being played at the Pabellon Fuente de San Luis.
When are the OQTs?
The OQTs will be played from 2-7 July.
Who are the teams competing?
There are a total of 24 teams competing in the OQTs with 6 teams in each OQT.
The OQTs includes the highest ranked eligible teams from Africa, Americas and Asia and Oceania at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 after the countries that qualified directly for the 2024 Olympics. Those three nations are joined by the top 16 finishers of eligible teams at the 2023 FIBA World Cup as well as the five winners of the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (OPQT).
Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Egypt Americas: Bahamas, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico Asia-Oceania: Bahrain, Lebanon, New Zealand and Philippines Europe: Croatia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia and Spain.
What is the format?
Each OQT consists of two groups of three teams. The Groups were confirmed at the draw for the OQTs in November 2023.
OQT Puerto Rico
Group A: Côte d'Ivoire, Lithuania, Mexico Group B: Bahrain, Italy, Puerto Rico
OQT Greece
Group A: Croatia, New Zealand, Slovenia Group B: Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece
OQT Latvia
Group A: Georgia, Latvia, Philippines Group B: Brazil, Cameroon, Montenegro
OQT Spain
Group A: Angola, Lebanon, Spain Group B: Bahamas, Finland, Poland
The teams in each group will play against each other in a single round-robin format. The top two teams of each group after the Group Phase will qualify for the Final Phase.
The first-place team will cross over to play the second-place team from the other group in the Semi-Finals. The winners of each Semi-Final matchup will advance to play against the other in the Final to determine the winner of each OQT.
What is at stake?
The four winners of the OQTs will earn a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Where to watch the games live?
Fans can stream all the action on Courtside 1891 and local rightsholder broadcasting channels.
Where can I follow the event?
Each OQT has its own dedicated websites for the convenience of the fans to stay updated with the action: OQT Greece, OQT Latvia, OQT Puerto Rico and OQT Spain.
FIBA