20 Of 24 Teams Now Known For 2010 FIBA World Championship For Men

-- Spain Wins '09 EuroBasket To Lead Six European Teams Into 2010 FIBA World Championship For Men --

September 21, 2009

Twenty teams have now earned a spot in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men, leaving just four national teams in the 24 team field to be determined.

At the 2009 FIBA European Championship that was completed Sept. 20 in Poland, Spain won gold in impressive fashion to underscore its position among the world's elite national teams, while Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, France and Croatia finished second through sixth, respectively, to also earn qualifying berths in the 2010 World Championship.

Turkey as host country, and the United States, as Olympic champions, were the first two teams to qualify for the '10 World, 18 of the remaining spots were determined through zone championships, and four teams will get wildcard invites from FIBA.

Angola, Cote d'Ivoire and Tunisia finished one, two, three in the Africa Zone qualifier to punch their tickets for Turkey and the '10 Worlds.

Brazil won the FIBA Americas Championship to stake a claim on a World Championship berth, while Puerto Rico, Argentina and Canada earned the FIBA Americas Zone's three remaining qualifying berths for the 2010 World Championship.

From the FIBA Asia Zone, taking gold, silver and bronze to qualifying for the 2010 World Championship were Iran, China and Jordan.

New Zealand and Australia split their two game series and both qualified for the World Championship. New Zealand was awarded the Oceania title based on the point differential in the two games.

The last four teams to round out the 24 team field will be awarded by FIBA. FIBA's criteria for the four wildcard selections includes:

• A team must have participated in its 2009 FIBA Zone Qualifying Championship.

• There can be a maximum number of three teams from a given FIBA Zone.

In addition to the above mentioned requirements, FIBA will take into consideration the following aspects:

Sporting Aspects

• Popularity of basketball in the country.

• Quality and sporting results of the country's national team.

• Quality of work by the National Federation.

Economic Aspects

• Involvement of local television station(s) and/or competition(s) in domestic and international basketball.

• Importance of the country to FIBA's marketing and television partners.

• Importance of the country to the Organizers of the FIBA World Championship.

Some countries left on the outside hoping to get the special invite from FIBA include: Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania, Macedonia, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Uruguay,

For general information on the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men go to http://www.usabasketball.com/men_team.php?page=msnt_facts.