Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics was the eighteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 28 July to 12 August 2012. The preliminary matches and the women's quarterfinal matches were played in the new Basketball Arena in Olympic Park, which seated up to 12,000 spectators. The men's knockout games and the women's games, from semifinals onward were played in the North Greenwich Arena. The US men's and US women's teams both successfully defended their Olympic basketball championships of 2008. Settings Two settings in London were used for the basketball tournaments: The O2 Arena (referred to as the "North Greenwich Arena" during the Olympics) and the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park at Stratford. The North Greenwich Arena was the setting for the knockout stages for the men, and also from the semifinal games onward for the women, whereas the Basketball Arena was the setting for the preliminary rounds and the women's quarterfinals. Qualification The National Olympic Committees may enter up to one 12-player men's team and up to one 12-player women's team. Host Initially, basketball was the only team sport in which the host country was not automatically awarded a team in the tournament. This was because the British basketball teams did not exist until 2006, and hence FIBA, the world's regulatory body of basketball, was concerned about the future of the British national basketball teams after 2012, as well as the probable lack of competitiveness of the British teams. However, in a meeting held in Lyon, France, on 13 March 2011, the FIBA's executive board agreed to allow the two British teams to enter automatically after all. Men's qualification Women's qualification Competition format Twelve qualified nations were drawn into two groups, each consisting of six teams. Each game result merits a corresponding point: *The team has less than two players available to play on the court.**A team cannot present five players at the start of the game, or its actions prevent play from being resumed. In case teams are tied on points, the tiebreaking criteria are, in order of first application: Results of the games involving the tied teams (head-to-head records) Goal average of the games involving the tied teams Goal average of all of the games played Points scored Drawing of lots The teams with the four best records qualified for the knockout stage, which was a single-elimination tournament.