The competition shall be held in accordance with the General Rules of the Games and those of the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA), except as otherwise provided in these Rules.
- Each team shall consist of not more than 12 players, one of whom shall act as captain. Female players are encouraged to participate.
- At the beginning of the Games, each team shall submit to the host organization a list of its players, which shall include the number of each player and the colour of the team´s uniform. Thereafter, changes in the designated number for each player shall only be made by agreement with the basketball discipline coordinator and communicated to the official score-keepers.
- The host organization shall designate two referees for each match from among officially recognized referees of the national FIBA association of the host country, and a total of four to six official referees for the tournament. If necessary, the basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization, in consultation with officially designated referees of the host country, shall designate officially licensed referees of other countries present at the competition, or players registered for the competition with experience as basketball referees but not competing in a match at the time. The host organization shall also designate 1-2 official score-keepers per match from a local basketball club or venue.
- The host organization shall provide 5-10 regulation-size good quality balls for practice/warm-up prior to each match. The choice of the game ball shall be solely the decision of the designated referees. The host organization shall also ensure a gymnasium for the competition, which meets FIBA standards for basketball court dimensions and markings, benches for players, scoring tables and equipment for each scheduled match, and in consultation with the basketball discipline coordinator, other facilities and equipment necessary for the competition as far as possible.
- The basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization shall draw up the schedule of matches in accordance with the standings of the previous years’ Games, as set out below in paragraph 6.
- The competition shall be organized on the basis of two rounds as follows:
- Round 1: In the event of five or fewer teams, each team shall play all the other teams in a first round. In the event of 6 or more teams, by decision of the basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization, the teams shall be placed into two Groups of 3-4 teams each (or three Groups of 3 teams each in the event of 9 or more teams) on the basis of the teams’ final standing in the previous year’s competition, or as necessary the team’s most recent IAG basketball competition. The number of Groups shall be determined by the number of competing teams so as to ensure that each group has an equal number of teams as far as possible; in the event that there are an uneven number of teams in the competition, one group may have more teams than the other. The first Group will include as far as possible the previous year’s Champion, Third-Place, Sixth-Place and Eighth-Place teams and the second Group will include the previous year’s Second-Place, Fourth-Place, Fifth-Place and Seventh-Place teams. The basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization may change this ranking prior to the start of the competition in the interests of balance among the Groups and the tournament, and shall communicate the proposed ranking to the captains prior to the start of the competition.
Each team within a Group will play other teams in that Group. The winning team shall be awarded two points. Subject to the available facilities and schedule of matches, in case of a tie at the end of regulation time, one or more overtime periods will be played to determine the winner. In the event of limited facilities and playing time due to a large number of teams in competition, a tie will be declared and each team shall be accorded one point. Failure of a team to be present or to continue a match will result in a forfeit, with the other team being awarded two points. The classification of teams at the end of the first round shall be determined by the total number of points. In case of an equal number of points among teams in a Group, the classification shall be determined first by the difference in points scored vs. points allowed between the teams finishing in a tie, and second by the difference in total number of points scored and allowed among all teams in the Group. - Round 2: The top-ranked teams from the first round shall play semi-final matches, to be followed by a Championship and a Third-Place match. In the event of five or fewer teams, only the top four teams shall compete in semi- final, Championship and Third-Place matches. In the event of six or more teams, according to the Groups described above, there shall be semi-final matches between the top two teams of each Group as follows:
First-Place Group 1 vs. Second Place Group 2 First-Place Group 2 vs. Second Place Group 1.
The winners of these matches shall play for the Championship, and losing teams shall play for Third-Place. In the event of ties at the end of regulation time during this round, overtime periods of five minutes shall be played to determine the winner.
In the event of eight teams, Third-Place teams of each Group shall play for 5th place, and Fourth-Place teams of each Group shall play for 7th place. Teams finishing below Fourth-Place in a Group shall not play a final game.
- Round 1: In the event of five or fewer teams, each team shall play all the other teams in a first round. In the event of 6 or more teams, by decision of the basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization, the teams shall be placed into two Groups of 3-4 teams each (or three Groups of 3 teams each in the event of 9 or more teams) on the basis of the teams’ final standing in the previous year’s competition, or as necessary the team’s most recent IAG basketball competition. The number of Groups shall be determined by the number of competing teams so as to ensure that each group has an equal number of teams as far as possible; in the event that there are an uneven number of teams in the competition, one group may have more teams than the other. The first Group will include as far as possible the previous year’s Champion, Third-Place, Sixth-Place and Eighth-Place teams and the second Group will include the previous year’s Second-Place, Fourth-Place, Fifth-Place and Seventh-Place teams. The basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization may change this ranking prior to the start of the competition in the interests of balance among the Groups and the tournament, and shall communicate the proposed ranking to the captains prior to the start of the competition.
- First-round matches shall be four quarters of 8 minutes each; the time may be lengthened to 10-minute quarters by agreement among the captains and the basketball discipline coordinator if facilities and available playing schedules permit. Classification matches for 5th and 7th place shall be four quarters of 8 minutes, or 10 minutes each by agreement of the respective team captains and the basketball discipline coordinator, subject to available facilities and playing schedules. Semi-final, Championship and 3rd place matches shall be four quarters of 10 minutes each. Half-times between the end of the second and beginning of the third quarters shall last for 5 minutes during all first-round and semi-final games, and 10 minutes during the Championship and 3rd place games. The time may be shortened by agreement of the respective captains and the basketball discipline coordinator in the interests of the playing schedule and use of facilities. The time between the first and second and the third and fourth quarters in all matches shall be one minute as per FIBA rules. Each team shall have only one time-out during the first and second and the third and fourth quarters, except for the Championship and 3rd place matches, during which each team will be allowed two time-outs in the first half (first two quarters) and three timeouts in the second half (third and fourth quarters) as per FIBA rules.
- Each player shall be permitted a maximum of four personal fouls in all games of 8 minute quarters and a maximum of five personal fouls in all games of 10 minute quarters. Each team will be permitted a maximum of three team fouls per quarter in all games of 8 minute quarters after which the bonus rule for foul shots shall be applied. In the Semi- final, Championship and 3rd place games of 10 minute quarters, the FIBA rule of four team fouls prior to the bonus shall apply.
- At the end of each match, the referees shall communicate the score sheets to the basketball discipline coordinator, having verified their accuracy and duly signed them.
- If there are enough women participants who so request it, the basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization may organize a 3 vs. 3 competition for women players during the Games provided facilities, playing schedules and other organizational matters permit. Each women’s team shall have a minimum of four female players (or three by agreement of the host organization basketball coordinator where a team is unable to present four players). The number of matches will be determined according to the number of teams, available facilities and playing schedules. The length of the matches shall be determined by the host organization basketball coordinator in consultation with the basketball captains of each organization presenting a team in accordance with one of the following formulas:
- four quarters of 6 or 8 minutes each, with time-outs only between the quarters (option 1)
- played until one team scores (10, 15 or 20) baskets (or 20, 30 or 40 points), with a half- time of 5 minutes after one team scores half of the points (option 2). If the time is decided by the total number of baskets, a 3-point basket will count as 2 points; if the time is decided by the total number of points, a 3-point basket will count as 3 points.
- Subject to available facilities and playing schedules, in agreement with all captains the basketball discipline coordinator of the host organization may also organize as far as possible an “All-Star Game” with a team from a local basketball club of the host country in the course of the competition (option 1), or as an alternative, an “All-Star Game” (open to both men and women) chosen from among volunteers proposed by the captains of the teams participating in the basketball competition (option 2). If option 1, the basketball captains will propose 1-3 players from each of their teams to form the UN All Star Team. If option 2, the two teams shall be selected based on players from the teams in each group, i.e. Group 1 team players form one team and Group 2 players form the other team.