Greece is one of the top contenders to organise one of the pre-Olympic tournaments in July – shortly before the 2024 Olympic Games.
Together with Latvia and Spain – are the three European countries currently leading the race for the organisation of the tournaments that will determine the final qualifiers for the “Paris 2024” Games.
According to the website Basketnews, Athens, Valencia, and Riga are considered as the most ideal cities to host a pre-Olympic tournament, scheduled to take place from July 2 to July 7, 2024.
The final announcement, however, is expected on Monday, November 27, the day when the draw for the pre-Olympic tournaments will take place in Switzerland.
Vangelis Liolios, the president of the Greek Basketball Association – or EOK, as it is widely referred to in Greece – expected from the beginning that Greece will stand a very good chance to host a pre-Olympic tournament, stating, “If you ask me what I think will happen in 13 days, I will just smile.”
Twenty-four teams – including Greece – will be divided into four tournaments to compete for the last tickets for the Olympic Games.
The teams are as follows: Poland, Croatia, Bahrain, Cameroon, Bahamas, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Spain, Georgia, Finland, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines, Egypt, Angola, Ivory Coast.
If Greece does indeed host one of the tournaments, it will significantly increase its chances of qualifying, as the national team will most probably compete with its strongest possible lineup. Hosting such an event and playing in a packed stadium – which will most probably be the 18,000-seater OAKA Arena – will be a unique motivator for all players.
The million-dollar question is whether the Greek NBA superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, will join the Greek national team during the following summer.
Too often, NBA franchises exert pressure on their star players to refrain from playing on the international level, yet Antetokounmpo and his team – the Milwaukee Bucks – have been able to find a way to reach a solution that everyone is happy with, on several occasions.
If Greece does indeed host a pre-Olympic tournament, then other star players – like Kostas Sloukas – may also return to the national team’s ranks.
This would also be a tremendous opportunity for the team’s new head coach – the veteran superstar, Vasilis Spanoulis – to present the strongest possible squad that he can, and then lead Greece to Paris to compete in the Olympics.
