Australia has won the fourth bid to the men's basketball tournament at the 2012 London Olympics, by virtue of defeating New Zealand in the FIBA Oceania Championship. New Zealand will, as a result, take a spot in next July's last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament.
The Oceania region has one automatic bid to the 12-team Olympic field despite its minute size at the competitive senior men's level. In the Olympics, Australia will join Tunisia, which won the FIBA Africas Championship last month, reigning FIBA World Champion Team USA and host nation Great Britain. Two Olympic bids from the Americas region will be decided on Saturday, and next week two teams from Europe will qualify. The Asian Championship is later in September.
Next July's qualifying tournament will send three additional teams to London. Nations that have already earned invitations to that tournament include Venezuela, Angola and Nigeria, in addition to New Zealand. Two more teams from the Americas and four from Europe will soon be added.
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