Due to the growing popularity of basketball in the early part of the 20th Century the sport had been included as a demonstration sport in the 1904 Olympic Games in St Louis, Missouri, USA. It would appear again in 1924 in Paris. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognised basketball as a sport in 1930 and in 1932 the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was formed in Geneva. Eight countries were represented at the founding meeting. They were Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Roumania and Switzerland.
Membership of FIBA grew quickly and in 1935 they organised the first European Championship. Ten countries took part in the competition which was held in Geneva and was used as a test bed for organising the 1936 Olympic Tournament to be held in Berlin. By 1936 twenty-seven countries had joined FIBA.
The 1936 Olympic Tournament was played outdoors on converted tennis courts. Although plagued by poor weather twenty-three countries entered - it was the largest entry for a team sport in the games. The final between the United States and Canada was played in torrential rain the USA winning by 19 points to 8. More than one thousand spectators braved the conditions but had to stand throughout the match as no seating had been provided. Mexico beat Poland to win the bronze medal.
Thereafter FIBA would assume responsibility for all international competition and in 1937 it organised the second European Championship in Riga, Lithuania where eight countries participated. The English Basketball Association affiliated to FIBA in 1938 and the Amateur Basketball Association of Scotland joined in 1947.
Following the Second World War, London had agreed to host the revival of the Olympic Games in 1948. As hosts it was felt that a Great Britain team should be entered. However there was no structure for the selection of a team. A Scotland V England International was played in Glasgow in 1947 the visitors winning by 42 points to 14. At the conclusion of the match it was agreed that an English team would represent Great Britain. After the disastrous outdoor experience in 1936 the London event would be held indoors at Harringay Arena. Twenty-three countries entered the Olympic competition and "Great Britain" finished in twentieth place. The United States team en route to London for the Games played an exhibition match in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. The US team included Robert (Bob) Kurland the first outstanding tall player. At seven feet two and a half inches tall he made a big impression on the large crowd which had assembled for the demonstration. The USA would go on to win the gold medal in London. France won the Silver medal and Brazil won Bronze.
The popularity of basketball in the Olympic Games was growing rapidly. The IOC recognised that the competition could become unmanageable and in 1952 imposed a limit of 16 participating countries. Twenty three countries entered the Helsinki Games of that year and FIBA produced a formula which qualified 10 teams automatically on the basis of recent international results. A qualifying tournament involving the remaining thirteen countries for the last six places was played in Helsinki immediately before the Olympic Tournament. Great Britain did not enter a team. The United States again won the Gold Medal defeating the Soviet Union in the Final. Uruguay won Bronze
Due to the remote location of the 1956 games in Melbourne, Australia, only fifteen countries entered the basketball tournament. Once again Great Britain did not enter a team. The United States secured another victory over the Soviet Union in the Final. Uruguay repeated their Bronze Medal place.
Thirty-six countries entered the 1960 Olympic Games Tournament to be held in Rome, Italy. A pre-Olympic tournament was organised in the Italian City of Bologna in the month of August. Recognising the growing world-wide popularity of basketball FIBA had produced a new qualifying formula based on the top six places in the 1952 Melbourne Games and the best six teams from the six FIBA Continental Zones, not already qualified. Italy were given a place as host country and that left three places to be competed for in Bologna.
Discussions between the English & Scottish Associations resulted in a British entry to the 1960 Qualifying Tournament. The Scottish Association offered to host an International Tournament at the recently opened USAF unit at RAF Kirknewton with a view to selecting a Great Britain Team. The four home nations entered and Scotland defeated England in the deciding match. Five Scots, five English and two Welshmen were selected for the team which went on to Bologna and finished in twentieth place out of twenty-three participants. Yugoslavia, Hungary & Poland would go on to Rome for the final competition. Once again the United States beat the Soviet Union in the final and Brazil took the bronze medal.
The formula for selecting Great Britain teams following a Four Country Tournament (FCIT) was to be repeated in the ensuing Olympic years. In 1964 Great Britain participated in the European Zone Qualifying Tournament held in Geneva and finished twelfth out of fourteen participants. Hungary and Finland would go on to participate in the final competition in Tokyo. The 1960 final results were repeated with gold going to the USA, Silver to the Soviet Union and Bronze to Brazil.
In 1968 the European Qualifying Tournament was held in Sophia, Bulgaria. Great Britain finished thirteenth in the fourteen team competition, one place above West Germany. Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Poland would go on to the Games in Mexico. The strength of European basketball was confirmed when Yugoslavia finished runners up to the United States, the Soviet Union won bronze. Poland were sixth and Bulgaria tenth.
FIBA organised a worldwide qualifying tournament for all countries not already qualified for the 1972 games in Munich. The tournament was held in Augsburg and Great Britain finished eighth in the twelve team competition, Spain and Poland going on to Munich where they secured tenth and eleventh place respectively. The final was contested by the USA and the Soviet Union. In a
frantic final few moments the Soviet team snatched victory in controversial circumstances and the USA Team refused to accept their silver medals in protest. It was the first Olympic defeat for a United States Team. Cuba making their first and only appearance in the Olympic Basketball tournament finished third and won the bronze medal.
In 1976 competition for places in the Montreal Olympic Tournament were intensified as the men's event was reduced from 16 teams to 12 to accommodate an 8 team women's competition for the first time. The Scottish Basketball Association was invited by FIBA to host the European Qualifying Tournament at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh. Great Britain finished seventh in the eight team competition, Italy beating Yugoslavia in a memorable final. However in Montreal Yugoslavia would finish in second place to the United States, the Soviet Union won the bronze medal while Italy finished fifth.
The 1980 European Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in Switzerland. Nineteen countries entered the competition which was played at four venues. Great Britain tied with Finland and Hungary in their qualifying group which was won by Spain and Poland. The final stage was won by Italy who were joined in the Moscow finals by Spain, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Poland. The USA had boycotted the Moscow games and Europe swept the top four places, Yugoslavia won the gold medal, Italy took silver, the Soviet Union bronze and Spain came fourth.
The 1984 European Qualifying Tournament was hosted by France in Le Mans. It proved to be a major breakthrough for the Great Britain team who finished in first place in their preliminary group beating Netherlands and Israel but losing out to bottom placed Bulgaria. In the final round the GB squad enjoyed a brilliant win over Greece by 106 points to 104 but succumbed to the Soviet Union, Spain, France, Germany and Sweden to finish in seventh place. Spain, France and Germany would go on to the Olympic Tournament which was to be played in Inglewood, California, USA. The Soviet Team withdrew from the Games in a tit for tat move. Spain would lose in the final to the United States who would regain their gold medal and Yugoslavia would win the bronze medal.
Eighteen countries entered the 1988 European Qualifying Tournament in Groningen, Netherlands. It was another step forward for Great Britain Teams. They finished second behind Spain in their qualifying group ahead of Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland, coming from behind against the host Netherlands team to win 85 to 65. Great Britain were now in the top bracket of European Basketball finishing sixth in the final classification. The Soviet Union would go on to Seoul to surprise the basketball world beating Yugoslavia in the final to win the gold medal. The United States finished in third place just ahead of the vastly improved Australian Team.
The breakup of the Soviet Union after the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989 and the disintegration of the Yugoslav Federation resulted in a huge expansion of the number of European and Asian countries. By 1990 the membership of FIBA had grown to 177 countries.
This growth was reflected in entries to the 1992 European Olympic Qualifying Tournament which was to be held in Spain prior to the Barcelona Olympics. Twenty-five countries had entered, including Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia from the former Soviet Union and newly independent Croatia and Slovenia. Finishing third equal in their group matches GB would fall to joint fourteenth place in the final classification.
During the sixties and seventies there was great controversy over the "shamateurism" of many sports. The original concept of participation in the Olympic Games was based on a pure ethic of athletes being sound in mind and body. The idea that athletes might be paid was anathema to the International Olympic Committee. However the practise of Eastern European countries farming athletes out to military and educational establishments finally convinced the IOC that the distinction between amateur and professional was no longer tenable. In 1989 the IOC opened the Olympic Games to professional sportsmen & women. As a consequence in 1992, United States officals selected "THE DREAM TEAM" including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barclay. The United States would recapture the gold medal beating Lithuania in the final and Croatia came third beating the CIS Team (Russia) for the bronze medal.
By 1996 FIBA had concluded that it was no longer practicable to allow every country to enter a Pre-Olympic Tournament. As a consequence it was decided that qualification for the Olympic Tournament would be determined by performance in Continental Championships. The three medal winners from 1992 would automatically qualify. On the basis of the playing strength of each continent, Europe was awarded two places along with Asia and South America. Africa, Oceania and North/Central America would be allocated one place. Since England, Wales and Scotland entered European Championships on an individual basis there was no opportunity for a Great Britain team to qualify. FIBA successfully negotiated with the IOC for an increase in the number of Women's teams from eight to twelve. The Men's competition was won by the United States with Yugoslavia winning silver. Lithuania beat the improving Australian team to win bronze.
