FIBA launches new web presence

GENEVA, Switzerland – FIBA has announced the launch of www.olympicbasketball.fiba.com, a website designed to provide fans and the media with extensive and unprecedented coverage of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and Women and of both Beijing 2008 Olympic…

GENEVA, Switzerland – FIBA has announced the launch of www.olympicbasketball.fiba.com, a website designed to provide fans and the media with extensive and unprecedented coverage of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and Women and of both Beijing 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournaments.

www.olympicbasketball.fiba.com offers exclusive websites, available in English, Chinese, Spanish and Greek languages, for each of the following six events marking this Olympic year:

• The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women (Madrid, Spain, from 9^th to 15^th June 2008), featuring the following 12 participating teams: Senegal and Angola (Africa), Cuba, Brazil and Argentina (Americas), Japan and Chinese Taipei (Asia), Spain, Belarus, Latvia and Czech Republic (Europe) and Fiji (Oceania). The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women will provide five women’s passports to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

• The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men (Athens, Greece, from 14^th to 20^th July 2008) featuring the following 12 participating teams: Cameroon and Cape Verde (Africa), Puerto Rico, Brazil and Canada (Americas), Lebanon and Korea (Asia), Greece, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia (Europe) and New Zealand (Oceania). The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men will provide three men’s berths for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

• The 3^rd FIBA Diamond Ball for Men (Nanjing City, China, from 29^th July to 1^st August 2008), an invitational tournament featuring the participation of Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran and Serbia.

• The 2^nd FIBA Diamond Ball for Women (Haining, China, from 2^nd to 5^th August 2008), an invitational tournament featuring the participation of Australia, China, Japan, Mali, Russia and USA.

• The Olympic Basketball Tournament for Women (Beijing, China, from 9^th to 23^rd August 2008), with the participation of China (host), Australia (World Champion), Mali (African Champion), USA (Champion of the Americas), Korea (Asian Champion), Russia (European Champion) and New Zealand (Oceanian runner-up), plus the five teams that will qualify through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.

• The Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men (Beijing, China, from 10^th to 24^th August 2008), with the participation of China (host), Spain (World Champion), Angola (African Champion), USA (Champion of the Americas), Argentina (Americas runner-up), Iran (Asian Champion), Russia (European Champion), Lithuania (European Bronze medallist) and Australia (Oceanian Champion), plus the three teams that will qualify through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men.

All six event websites will offer live results and statistics, game reports and previews, complete player profiles and biographies, hundreds of action photos, interviews and blogs from experts and fans, in addition to a variety of ‘behind the scenes’ features and videos.

www.olympicbasketball.fiba.com represents the perfect tool for any sports fan and media representative wanting to stay tuned with the latest news on Olympic basketball and with the qualification and preparation phases leading up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

About FIBA

FIBA (www.fiba.com), the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National Federations of basketball throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Its main upcoming events are the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Men and Women (to take place in the summer of 2008) that will decide the final berths for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the FIBA World Championships for Men and Women, held every four years. The 2010 FIBA World Championship will be played in Turkey, while the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women will take place in the Czech Republic.