Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics


Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics was the eighteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 28 July to 12 August 2012. The preliminary matches and the women's quarterfinal matches were played in the new Basketball Arena in Olympic Park, which seated up to 12,000 spectators. The men's knockout games and the women's games, from semifinals onward were played in the North Greenwich Arena.
The US men's and US women's teams both successfully defended their Olympic basketball championships of 2008.
WWW london2012.com/basketball

Settings

Two settings in London were used for the basketball tournaments: The O2 Arena and the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park at Stratford. The North Greenwich Arena was the setting for the knockout stages for the men, and also from the semifinal games onward for the women, whereas the Basketball Arena was the setting for the preliminary rounds and the women's quarterfinals.
Greenwich, LondonStratford, London
North Greenwich ArenaBasketball Arena
Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 12,000

Qualification

The National Olympic Committees may enter up to one 12-player men's team and up to one 12-player women's team.

Host

Initially, basketball was the only team sport in which the host country was not automatically awarded a team in the tournament. This was because the British basketball teams did not exist until 2006, and hence FIBA, the world's regulatory body of basketball, was concerned about the future of the British national basketball teams after 2012, as well as the probable lack of competitiveness of the British teams. However, in a meeting held in Lyon, France, on 13 March 2011, the FIBA's executive board agreed to allow the two British teams to enter automatically after all.

Men's qualification

Means of qualificationDateVenueBerthsQualified
Host nation6 July 20051
2010 FIBA World Championship28 August – 12 September 2010TurkeyNowrap|

Competition format

Twelve qualified nations were drawn into two groups, each consisting of six teams. Each game result merits a corresponding point:
ResultPoints
Win2
Loss, or loss by default1
Loss via forfeiture**0
*The team has less than two players available to play on the court.
  • *A team cannot present five players at the start of the game, or its actions prevent play from being resumed.
In case teams are tied on points, the tiebreaking criteria are, in order of first application:
  1. Results of the games involving the tied teams
  2. Goal average of the games involving the tied teams
  3. Goal average of all of the games played
  4. Points scored
  5. Drawing of lots
The teams with the four best records qualified for the knockout stage, which was a single-elimination tournament. The semifinal winners contested for the gold medal, while the losers played for the bronze medal.

Calendar

PPreliminaries¼Quarterfinals½SemifinalsFFinal

Men's competition

The draw for the groups of the men's tournament was made on 30 April 2012. Included are the teams' FIBA World Rankings prior to the tournament.
Group AGroup B
United Statesbk|Spain

Women's competition

The draw for the groups of the women's tournament was made on 30 April 2012. Included are the teams' FIBA World Rankings before the tournament.
Group AGroup B

Referees

The International Basketball Federation named the following 30 referees to officiate the basketball games at the 2012 Olympics.
  • Samir Abaakil
  • Recep Ankaralı
  • Juan Carlos Arteaga
  • Michael Aylen
  • Ilija Belošević
  • Snehal Bendke
  • José Anibal Carrion
  • Guerrino Cerebuch
  • Elena Chernova
  • Christos Christodoulou
  • Carole Delauné
  • Pablo Alberto Estévez
  • Marcos Fornies Benito
  • Vitalis Odhiambo Gode
  • Felicia Andrea Grinter
  • Carl Jungebrand
  • William Gene Kennedy
  • Luigi Lamonica
  • Oļegs Latiševs
  • Robert Lottermoser
  • Cristiano Jesus Maranho
  • Vaughan Charles Mayberry
  • Rabah Noujaim
  • Peng Ling
  • Saša Pukl
  • Borys Ryschyk
  • Fernando Jorge Sampietro
  • Stephen Seibel
  • Shoko Sugruro
  • Jorge Vázquez