The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced here on Tuesday that 12 teams from throughout the world would participate in a new men's Olympic qualifying tournament in July 2008 to vie for final three berths for the Beijing Olympics.

The tournament will take place from July 7-13 2008 in a yet-to-be announced location following next summer's five continental qualification campaigns, which will yield seven Olympic spots - two each from Europe and the America and one a piece from Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The breakdown of the 12 teams participating in the July 2008 event is as follows: Europe will have four representatives, the America three, two each from Africa and Asia and one from Oceania -with the best ranked remaining teams from the 2007 continental qualifiers competing.

The three teams who secure their berth at the new tournament and the seven continental qualifiers from next summer will be joined at the 2008 Olympics by hosts China and the gold medallists of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2006)