SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 US teams take first 2012 places with World Championship titles
FEBRUARY or MARCH 2011 Governing body Fiba to rule on GB's right to host nation places
JUNE 2011 Women's EuroBasket in Poland
AUGUST 2011 Men's EuroBasket in Lithuania
25 JUNE-1 JULY 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament for women
2-8 JULY 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament for men
Qualification for London 2012 began with the 2010 Basketball World Championships, which took place in Turkey for the men and the Czech Republic for the women.
Teams from the United States won both tournaments to book their places at the 2012 Olympics, which will feature 12-team events for both men and women.
In 2011, continental championships such as EuroBasket (men: 31 August to 18 September in Lithuania; women: 18 June to 3 July in Poland) offer further qualification places.
For the men one extra team will qualify from Africa, Asia and Australasia, with two each from Europe and the Americas. For the women one additional team will qualify from all five regions.
Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in 2012 will resolve the remaining places, qualifying four more men's teams and six women's teams.
Chicago Bulls NBA star Luol Deng is the star of the British men's team
How are British competitors doing?
In basketball, British teams are faced with the unique situation of not receiving any automatic qualification benefit as the host nation.
World governing body Fiba initially declared that Britain must first prove its teams are competitive at world level, a test the GB squads are understood to have passed.
But Fiba will now meet in early 2011 to decide if the British basketball programme offers sufficient sporting legacy in the UK to merit giving the hosts berths at the Games.
British teams could, of course, qualify directly for London 2012 by placing in the top two (men) or winning the competition (women) at EuroBasket.
But it is far more likely that the teams will be forced to seek host nation places.
If awarded them, the number of places available to other nations at the ensuing Olympic qualifying tournaments would be reduced to three men's teams and five women's teams.
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