WASHINGTON -- Athens beat San Juan of Puerto Rico in a vote of international basketball federations to hold next summer's pre-Olympic qualifying tournament for the final three spots in the Beijing Olympics' men's basketball field.
Favorite teams competing in the 12-team field for the tournament are Greece, Puerto Rico, Croatia, New Zealand, Germany, Brazil and Slovenia. The tournament is to be held July 14-20. Also competing are Cape Verde, Lebanon, Canada, Cameroon and South Korea.
The Games's host China, the United States, Argentina, Russia, Lithuania, Spain, Angola, Australia and Iran have already qualified for the 2008 Olympics.
Delegates at the FIBA convention also selected the field for the DiamondBall Tournament, traditionally the top pre-Olympic warm-up tournament. Russia, Argentina, China, Australia and Angola will play in the tournament to be held July 29-August 1 in Nanjing City, China.
The U.S. Olympic team is planning to play pre-Olympic warm-up games in Las Vegas, Macao and Shanghai, with the opponents yet to be announced. FIBA also awarded the pre-Olympic women's tournament to Madrid, Spain, June 9-15. Five berths are available for a field of Angola, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Cuba, Czech Republic, Fiji, Japan, Latvia, Senegal, Spain and Chinese Taipei.
The 2010 FIBA world women's championship was awarded to Prague, Czech Republic.
