New Olympic Qualifying Tournament format to feature 18 teams playing across three tournaments

MIES (Rio 2016) - FIBA's Central Board on Sunday approved a new format for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) that will provide more men's teams the chance to chase their Olympic dream and offer more countries the opportunity to host leading FIBA events.

In 2016, three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) - each consisting of six participating teams - will take place, with the winning team from each event earning a berth for the Olympic Basketball Tournament at the Rio Games.

This replaces the previous system of holding one 12-team Olympic Qualifying Tournament, from which the top three teams qualified.

The 18 teams that will compete in 2016 are to consist of 15 which have qualified - through their respective 2015 continental championships - for the OQTs and three that are OQT hosts.

Here is a breakdown of where the teams will come from:
Africa: 3
Americas: 3
Asia: 3
Europe: 5
Oceania: 1
OQT hosts: 3

All teams competing in the 2015 FIBA Continental Championships are therefore eligible to host one of the three 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

The hosts of the OQTs will in principle be selected from teams already qualified, or from the best non-qualified teams. If a team already qualified is approved as host of an OQT, then the next best non-qualified team(s) from the respective continent will be invited to participate.

The bidding process to determine the hosts of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments takes place from 17 August until the end of November, when FIBA's Executive Committee will award the three events.

ROAD TO RIO 2016 - HOW IT WORKS

Road to Rio 2016 (Men) - Click on graphic to enlarge

MEN
Teams already qualified: USA (as winners of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup).

AfroBasket 2015 (Tunis, Nabeul, Tunisia, 19-30 August)
Winner qualifies automatically for 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament.
2^nd-, 3^rd- and 4^th-place teams earn spots for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQTs).

2015 FIBA Americas Championship (Mexico City, Mexico, 31 August-12 September)
1^st- and 2^nd-place teams qualify automatically for 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament.
3^rd-, 4^th- and 5^th-place teams earn spots for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
If Brazil finish in the top 2, the 3^rd-place team will qualify for the 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament and the 6^th-place team will participate in one of the OQTs. If Brazil finish 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th, the 6^th-place team will qualify for the OQT.

2015 FIBA Asia Championship (Changsha, China, 23 September-3 October)
Winner qualifies automatically for 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament.
2^nd-, 3^rd- and 4^th-place teams earn spots for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

EuroBasket 2015 (Germany, France, Latvia and Croatia, 5-20 September)
1^st- and 2^nd-place teams qualify automatically for 2016 Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament.
3^rd-, 4^th-, 5^th-, 6^th- and 7^th-place teams earn spots for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

2015 FIBA Oceania Championship (Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand, 15 and 18 August)
Winner qualifies automatically for 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament.
2^nd-place team earns spot for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

FIBA