The long-road for countries who were unable to make it outright to the 2016 Rio Games start their quest for a possible slot this July after the official draws for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for both men and women were concluded at the House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.

Below are the brackets based on the results of the official draw per FIBA.com:

Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Serbia (to be held at Kombank Arena, Belgrade)
Group A – Serbia, Angola, Puerto Rico
Group B – Japan, Czech Republic, Latvia

Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Manila (to be held at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay)
Group A – Turkey, Senegal, Canada
Group B – France, New Zealand, Philippines

Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Italy (to be held in Pala Alpitour, Turin)
Group A –Greece, Mexico, Iran
Group B – Tunisia, Croatia, Italy

The tournament will see each team playing two games per bracket, with the top two teams from each advancing to the semi-final round. It will be a knockout affair from there on with the eventual champion from each leg and the winners qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

FIBA will call a press conference and conduct the final Rio Olympics draw. The initial draw will be on March 11 at the House of Basketball with three slots vacant. The slots will be filled by the winners of the three Olympic qualifiers.

The Manila leg seems to be interesting to watch, particularly because of Canada and France.

France remains a powerhouse with the possible participation of players in the NBA.

French Basketball Federation director general Yann Barbitch says that NBA veterans Boris Diaw of the San Antonio Spurs and Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets are doubtful to play since they will be renegotiating new pacts in the NBA. As for Tony Parker, it depends on his health.

However, the likes of Evan Fournier of the Orlando Magic, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz and Joffrey Lauvergne of the Denver Nuggets could make the team.

Canada, on the other hand, could include players such as Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers) to back up the squad. Other possible inclusions include Kelly Olynyk (Boston Celtics), Robert Sacre of the Los Angeles Lakers and Cory Joseph of the Toronto Raptors.

On their end, Turkey may be bannered by Omer Asik (New Orleans Pelicans), Enes Kanter (Oklahoma City Thunder), Ersan Ilyasova (Detroit Pistons) and Furkan Aldemir (Philadelphia 76ers).

New Zealand is no pushover as well and could end up vying for one of the slots against the hosting Philippine quad. Turkey is also a higher ranked team (8th) that could make the Manila leg pretty interesting.

Gilas Pilipinas will represent the home team which will most likely be backstopped by former NBA player Andray Blatche and possibly Fil-American star Jordan Clarkson if he is permitted to suit up for the country by the Los Angeles Lakers per the Manila Bulletin.

The favorites in the other brackets include Serbia, Angola and Puerto Rico for the Serbia leg while Greece and Croatia seem to be the favoured ones over at the Turin leg.