Paris 2024 Olympics: Russia will remain banned from international basketball with its men’s national team not being allowed to participate in this year’s Pre-Olympic Qualification Tournaments, FIBA (The International Basketball Federation) Executive Committee announced on Tuesday. The banned was sanction due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Follow Paris 2024 Olympics Live Updates with InsideSport.IN
Russia has been disqualified from qualifying for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament in Paris next year 🤯#Basketball #FIBA #Russia #Paris2024 #Olympic pic.twitter.com/QIBZtmMv8H
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) April 19, 2023
The Russian men’s team were placed at 12th position at the FIBA Men’s World Cup in 2019. They last qualified for the Olympics in 2012 and surprised everyone by winning bronze medal with a line-up that included former NBA player Andrei Kirilenko.
Russia beat Argentina in the bronze medal match with a score of 81-77.
This was Russia’s first Olympic medal in men’s basketball after USSR was disbanded in 1991. USSR had dominated world dominated the basketball world prior and ended their medal drought after more than 20 years.
FIBA Executive Committe on Russia’s Paris 2024 Olympics ban
“Following the IOC recommendations on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions published on 28 March, the FIBA Executive Committee has decided to not allow the registration of the Russian men’s national team,” the governing body said in a statement.
The Pre-Qualification Tournaments, which were introduced this year, will be played by 40 countries in total, with 28 that participated in the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers plus the top-ranked 12 that did not participate in the second round.
Bulgaria will replace the Russian team as the next highest ranked European squad.
The event will be held from August 12 to 20, with the five winners earning spots in the FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournaments in 2024.
