or1980v2pt1

Twelve men's and six women's
teams (216 competitors from 14 countries)
took part in the competitions.
Men's teams were selected for participation
in the tournament as follows:
it included the winners of the
previous Olympics (among them the
Soviet team); one team from Africa,
one from Asia and one from Oceania;
the teams placing first, second and
third in the European qualifying tournament;
and the teams placing first,
second and third in the qualifying
tournament on the American continent.
The six women's teams included
the 1976 Olympic champion (the
Soviet team) and the five top squads
according to the results of the elimination
tournament, which was held in
May 1980 in Bulgaria.
A decision was taken at the session
of the FIBA Central Bureau in October
1980 according to which the basketball
competitions of the 1980 Olympics
would be held according to regulations
different from those in effect at
the previous Games. The men's preliminary
round alone coincided with
the structure of the Montreal tournament.
The men's and women's semifinals
were held according to the
round-robin system, after which finals
were held between the teams which
placed first and second—for the gold
and silver medals, and also between
those which placed third and fourth—
for the bronze.
For staging the competitions the
FIBA appointed 50 technical officials
and referees from 25 countries, including
5 persons from the USSR.
Soviet secretary-judges, timekeepers
and other auxiliary personnel
(75 persons in total) as agreed with
FIBA were selected according to the
results of the Olympic Referee contest
and on the basis of their work at the
VII USSR Summer Spartakiade.
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