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Russian Men’s Basketball Team Barred From 2024 Paris Olympics

The move comes after the sport’s international governing body suspended Russian teams from international play shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last year.

The Russian men’s basketball team will not be allowed to compete in the pre-qualification tournaments for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the sport’s governing body announced on Tuesday. The move from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was widely expected, according to the Associated Press, after it barred all Russian teams from international events shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last February. In explaining the decision, FIBA’s executive committee cited an earlier decision by the International Olympic Committee to allow Russian and Belarusian nationals to compete as independent athletes under a neutral flag. FIBA’s statement did not mention Belarus or the Russian women’s team, both having already missed out on qualification for the tournaments this summer. Taking the Russian men’s team’s place will be Bulgaria, FIBA said. Russia last qualified to send its basketball teams to the Olympics in 2012, when the men’s team won bronze and the women’s team finished fourth.