Japan’s men’s basketball team, which qualified for the Olympic Games on its own for the first time in 48 years, has received 100 million yen (approximately $900 million) in rewards.
The Japan Basketball Association announced on Monday that it has received an additional 100 million yen from official sponsor SoftBank in connection with the team’s qualification for the 스포츠토토 Olympic Games.
The money will be used to reward the coaching staff and players and to support the men’s national team in the future.
Japan finished 19th at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the highest ranked Asian team, and qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris next year.
The team earned the berths allocated to each continent based on its final World Cup ranking.
Asia was allotted one spot, and Japan beat out Lebanon (23rd), the Philippines (24th), China (29th), Iran (31st), and Jordan (32nd).
Japan defeated Europe’s Finland in the group stage, and swept Venezuela and Cape Verde in the championship match to finish 3-2 and 19th.
It had been 48 years since Japan had qualified for the Olympic Games on its own since Montreal 1976. This marks the second consecutive time that Japan has qualified for the Olympic Games, following the Tokyo 2020 Games, where it served as the host nation.
Twelve nations will compete in the men’s basketball tournament in Paris.
Host France, Japan, South Sudan, the United States, Canada, Serbia, Germany, and Australia have all confirmed their participation.
South Korea, meanwhile, did not qualify for the World Cup due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, the team was scheduled to compete in the pre-Olympic qualifiers in Paris, but was unable to do so because host country Syria was listed as a travel ban. No Olympics. South Korea’s men’s basketball team last competed in the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.