Organized by FIBA, it took place from 14 to 20 July 2008 at the OAKA Indoor Sports Arena, in Athens, Greece.

[1] The draw for the tournament was held on 31 January 2008 at the Divani Caravel hotel in Athens.

[2] Through this tournament, the final three qualifying berths for the 2008 Olympics men's basketball competition were determined.

The twelve participating teams were: Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Slovenia.

The three teams that qualified through this tournament—Croatia, Germany and Greece—joined Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the US in the Beijing Olympics, and had roughly a month to practice and prepare as the Olympic basketball tournament took place on August 9–24.