(Reuters) – World basketball’s governing body has postponed the men’s Olympic qualifiers, the European Championship and the Americas Championship by a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, FIBA said on Thursday.
FIBA were forced to rearrange their calendar after the Olympics, originally due to take place from July 24 to Aug. 9 this year, were pushed back a year to 2021.
The Olympic qualifiers, which were due to take place from June 23-28 this year, have now been scheduled for a period between June 22 and July 4 next year, with the specific dates yet to be determined pending International Olympic Committee approval.
The men’s European Championship (EuroBasket) and the Americas Championship (AmeriCup), both originally due to take place next year, will now be held in 2022 in a period between Sept. 1-18.
The women’s AmeriCup will be held June 20-27 next year, before the Olympics. The women’s EuroBasket will be between June 17-27, 2021.
Women’s Olympic basketball qualifying was completed in February when Belgium, Canada, Australia, France, Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Serbia, China, Spain and South Korea joined hosts Japan and world champions United States in the 12-team tournament.
Eight teams have already punched their tickets for the men’s tournament. Hosts Japan were joined by United States, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, France, Australia and world champions Spain on the basis of their 2019 World Cup placements.
The remaining four berths will be won at four qualifying tournaments featuring 24 nations, with only the winners of each tournament able to secure their passage to the games.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Toby Davis)
