The new dates for FIBA's Olympic basketball qualification tournaments have now been approved by the IOC ©Getty Images

The International Olympic Committee has approved the new dates for the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA) Olympic qualification tournaments, which were announced by the governing body last month.

The tournaments will be played from June 29 to July 4 2021 taking place in Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia.

A total of 24 men's teams will compete - Angola, Senegal and Tunisia {Africa}, China, Korea and New Zealand {Asia}, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela {Americas} and Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey {Europe}. 

FIBA President Hamane Niang and secretary general Andreas Zagklis expressed their thanks to IOC President Thomas Bach and the Executive Board for their cooperation during the consultation process.

FIBA has confirmed rearranged dates for its Olympic qualification tournaments after they were approved by the IOC ©Getty Images
FIBA has confirmed rearranged dates for its Olympic qualification tournaments after they were approved by the IOC ©Getty Images

Factors including players' workload, the national team preparations and the national league calendars were all considered in arranging the new dates.

Eight teams have already qualified directly for the basketball competition at Tokyo 2020 - Argentina, Australia, Spain, France, Iran, hosts Japan, Nigeria and the United States.

The winners of the four tournaments will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, now taking place from July 23 to August 8 2021.

A revised competition schedule for the Olympic qualifying tournaments will be announced in due course.