By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, FIBA Europe has asked from FIBA to ban from the Rio Olympics the Spanish national team and all the other 13 federation which have been banned or warned with a ban from Eurobasket 2017. That would include also the pre-Olympic tournaments with Italy and Serbia being the hosts in two cases.
However, there’s not a FIBA Europe any more, just a regional office of FIBA. The international federation is the authority which already banned 8 countries from Eurobasket 2017 and warned 6 more for the same. So, there’s not a “middle entity” like in the past, when FIBA Europe was a seperated continental federation. If FIBA wants to keep Spain away from the Olympics, they just have to ask for it from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
It seems more than unlikely for anyone to be banned from Rio – something that will be decided by IOC after the proposal by FIBA – and for the pre-Olympic tournaments to change venues with less than three months left before their tip off.