Greeting by the Deputy Minister of Culture competent for Sports issues, Mr. Yiannis Ioannides The undertaking of the organization of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men in Athens in the summer of 2008, proves, once again, the trust that the international sports movement places in our country and in the human resources that provide their services in such sector for the undertaking of sports events of worldwide range. Now, we are undoubtedly part of among the big powers of the sector with the know- how for drawing up perfect candidacy folders and we fight for and claim top sports events continuously reinforcing our country’s athletic presence and extroversion. Now, our national team has every opportunity to prepare itself in the best possible way, in order to claim before the people of Greece , one of the three positions that will qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games. I am certain that our country, once more, delivers an impeccable organization both to the athletes as well as to the visitors. I, wholeheartedly, wish the best of luck to our national basketball team. Yiannis Ioannides Deputy Minister of Culture Competent for Sports Issues GREETING BY THE PRESIDENT OF HBF ANDREAS MIAOULIS On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Basketball Federation, I welcome to the draw for the games of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men the representatives of the Athletic Federations whose teams shall participate in such tournament, the representatives of the State, the representatives of FIBA and of the institutional bodies of the sports sector that responded to the invitation sent by our Federation and are present in this international event. The International Federation assigned, once again, to Greece and to the Hellenic Basketball Federation a top international sports event, such as the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, in which 12 leading teams of the international stage shall participate, out of which 3 shall qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games. The assignment of such tournament to the Hellenic Basketball Federation undoubtedly constitutes a recognition of our Federation’s expertise in the undertaking and successful organisation of top sports events. The athletic importance of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament demonstrates the increased international interest shown both by the participating National Teams, as well as by the Mass Media and the millions of fans`. The Calendar Draw is included within the framework of the organization of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Such event presents its own particular interest and shall give the opportunity to the Athletic Federations to draw up the Schedule for the preparation of their National Teams. I wish to all National Teams partaking in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament every success in the fulfillment of their goals in this top international sports event. The “home” of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens , also known as OAKA, is one of the most complete European athletic complexes. The Main Olympic Stadium was designed in 1979 and inaugurated in 1982 at the 13th European Athletics Championship. The following years a number of other sport facilities surrounded the Main Olympic Stadium: the Olympic Velodrome (inaugurated in 1991), the Olympic Aquatics Center (1991), the Olympic Indoor Sports Center (1995), the Olympic Tennis Center (2004), as well as other supplementary sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1991, the World Championship in Athletics in 1997 as well as other important athletic and cultural events, the most significant of which remains the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Facts and Figures Year of construction: 1995 Owned by: General Secretary Athletism Address: Kifisias 37- Olympic Stadium of Athens Phone: 0030-210- 6834060-61, Fax: 210 6834021, e-mail: [email protected] Distance to Arena: From the centre of Athens: 13km-20min. From the airport «Εletherios Venizelos»-15km-20 min. Indoor Basketball Arena The Indoor Basketball Arena is constructed in six levels and can be evacuated in 10 minutes. Facts and figures: 40X70m competition area 25.5X44.5m central court floor Capacity: 18,500 spectator seats (of which 2,000 are folding) and 300 media seats 4 electronic boards: 2 scoreboards 1 statistics board 1 audiovisual reproduction board 54 spectator gates, 2 team entrances, 1 VIP entrance and 1 media entrance 2 19X9m indoor gyms Medical center (operational at games time) Doping control room 12 dressing rooms with shower, toilet and massage areas 2 saunas Press center (500m2 main room, 100m2 press conference room, 2 offices) 18 snack bars for spectators, 1 for VIP and 1 for media Closed circuit TV 6 dark rooms All gates of the middle landing are accessible Parking lot for 750 spectator vehicles and 40 VIP vehicles Highlight Moments: 1995 FIBA Εuropean Championship for Men, 1995 FIBA Under 18 World Championship for Men, 1998 FIBA World Championship for Men, 2007 Euroleague Final Four. ATHENS: ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” is one of the most modern, functional and safest airports in the world. Thanks to its advantageous geographical location, state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and high level of services, it has earned international recognition and the trust of air travellers, which is the most important. Today, it constitutes the largest hub of air travel in southeastern Europe and forms a strong pole of financial and social development in the Attica. In 2007 more than 16.500.000 travelers passed through the Athens International Airport. The connection with the city of Athens or Piraeus is more than easy since you have a variety of means. You can access Athens International Airport (AIA) from the centre of Athens or the Attica ports via public transport that operates on a 24-hour basis, ensuring efficient transportation to key areas of the Attica basin and tourist attractions. The main access road to Athens International Airport (AIA) is Attiki Odos. For more information you can address to www.aia.gr. Bus Services: Six bus routes directly connect the greater area of Athens and Piraeus to the airport. All buses disembark passengers at the Departures Level and depart from the Arrivals Level, between Exits 4 and 5. (www.isap.gr) Metro: The airport is accessible via Metro Line 3. (www.ametro.gr) Suburban Rail: Athens International Airport is connected to Athens Central Railway Station (Larissis Station) and the port of Pireaus via the Suburban Rail. (www.proastiakos.gr) BRAZIL Date of Affiliation to FIBA: 1935 Rank on FIBA Ranking (Men): 18 6720 Registered Clubs 36000 Licensed Female Players 96000 Licensed Male Players Website: www.cbb.com.br FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 (Ranked 4th) Brazil-Canada 75-67 Brazil-Venezuela 101-75 Brazil-Virgin Islands 93-89 Brazil-USA 76-113 Brazil-Puerto Rico 75-97 Brazil-Mexico 104-90 Brazil-Argentina 79-86 Brazil-Uruguay 96-62 Brazil-Argentina 80-91 Brazil-Puerto Rico 107-111 STATISTICS FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 Name G Min 2P FG % 3P FG % FT % RO RD RT Ast Pf T St Bs Pts Avg Leandro Barbosa 10 320 49/100 49 23/61 37.7 51/64 79.7 4 11 15 28 21 23 10 1 218 21.8 Tiago Splitter Beims 10 257 50/95 52.6 1/1 100 21/33 63.6 31 49 80 16 32 20 5 13 124 12.4 Marcelo Mag. Machado 10 250 11/30 36.7 26/70 37.1 17/20 85 8 29 37 32 23 16 17 0 117 11.7 Maybner Hilario 9 193 29/51 56.9 0/0 0 18/32 56.3 17 40 57 14 21 17 8 6 76 8.4 Valter Silva 10 288 14/24 58.3 10/17 58.8 13/14 92.9 6 20 26 46 16 21 14 0 71 7.1 Alex Ribeiro Garcia 10 196 19/35 54.3 7/25 28 11/18 61.1 6 21 27 18 36 13 12 1 70 7 Murilo Becker Da Rosa 9 135 28/46 60.9 0/2 0 4/7 57.1 17 21 38 2 22 6 3 2 60 6.7 Guilherme Giovannoni 7 100 9/19 47.4 5/12 41.7 12/15 80 4 9 13 12 12 5 6 0 45 6.4 Joa Lopez Batista 10 101 21/31 67.7 0/0 0 12/15 80 8 15 23 4 20 11 0 1 54 5.4 Welington Dos Santos 5 43 2/4 50 3/6 50 3/7 42.9 2 0 2 5 9 5 1 0 16 3.2 Marcelo Huertas 9 97 7/12 58.3 4/8 50 0/0 0 3 9 12 13 10 11 4 0 26 2.9 Marcus Vieira Souza 5 46 4/7 57.1 0/6 0 1/2 50 2 9 11 6 0 6 3 0 9 1.8 TEAM 10 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 13 13 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brazil 2026 243/454 53.5 79/208 38 163/227 71.8 121 246 367 196 222 154 83 24 886 CAMEROON Date of Affiliation to FIBA: 1965 Rank on FIBA Ranking (Men): 50 48 Registered Clubs 200 Licensed Female Players 470 Licensed Male Players Website: - FIBA AFRICA CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 (Ranked 2nd) Cameroon – Mozambique 66-54 Cameroon – South Africa 89-59 Cameroon – Tunisia 75-70 Cameroon – Côte d’Ivoire 76-56 Cameroon – Egypt 58-52 Cameroon – Angola 72-86 STATISTICS FIBA AFRICA CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 Name G Min 2P FG % 3P FG % FT % RO RD RT Ast Pf TO St Bs Pts Avg Luc Mbah a Moute 5 152 18/37 48.6 3/10 30 21/33 63.6 13 21 34 16 10 18 15 4 66 13.2 Brice Vounang Nanfah 6 164 28/53 52.8 0/0 0 18/27 66.7 23 19 42 7 17 16 11 1 74 12.3 Gaston Essengué 6 145 24/42 57.1 0/2 0 15/17 88.2 10 17 27 6 16 8 15 7 63 10.5 Joachim Ekanga Ehawa 6 143 3/8 37.5 12/37 32.4 16/19 84.2 3 14 17 8 15 14 7 0 58 9.7 Patrick Bouli Elandi 5 112 5/8 62.5 9/17 52.9 9/13 69.2 2 9 11 10 15 13 10 0 46 9.2 Christian Bayang 10 191 9/45 20 9/27 33.3 42/59 71.2 7 18 25 7 16 13 7 1 87 8.7 Cyrille Tato 4 65 11/21 52.4 0/4 0 8/17 47.1 3 4 7 4 8 12 1 1 30 7.5 Saint-Yves Iroung a Abah 4 102 9/25 36 0/2 0 11/13 84.6 4 10 14 0 13 10 4 1 29 7.3 Delf Fotue Fossuo 4 53 4/7 57.1 6/13 46.2 1/2 50 0 3 3 1 5 3 2 1 27 6.8 Hervé Mendzana 4 75 5/15 33.3 0/2 0 17/20 85 11 8 19 1 14 4 3 0 27 6.8 Gabriel Yeumo Tchupou 4 88 8/23 34.8 0/0 0 10/18 55.6 2 16 18 1 11 8 2 1 26 6.5 Georges Man.