PARIS (France): Olympic champions United States will face France and Iran in the men’s group stages at the Tokyo Olympics.
Joining the mighty US, France and Iran in Group A will be the winner of Greece, China, Canada, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey from a qualifying event in Victoria, Canada in late June.
Australia, who can call on several NBA players, are in Group B with Nigeria and two other teams decided by qualifying events in Split (Germany, Russia, Mexico, Tunisia, Croatia and brazil) and in Belgrade (Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Serbia, Puerto Rico, Italy, Senegal).
The draw at the International Basketball Federation’s headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, on Tuesday pitted Spain and Japan with Argentina, bronze medalists in 2008 with Group C completed by the winner of a qualifying event in Kaunas consisting of Lithuania, South Korea, Venezuela, Poland, Slovenia and Angola.
The US team are seeking their fourth consecutive men’s basketball gold and 16th in total after seeing off Serbia for the title in Rio 2016 and Spain in London and Beijing Games respectively.
The men’s competition in Tokyo begins on July 25, three days after the scheduled conclusion of the NBA finals.
