EuroBasket 2017 men's group stages unveiled

ISTANBUL (AA) – Group stages for Europe's top national basketball competition were unveiled Tuesday at a ceremony at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace.

Host countries for the group stage of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 men's tournament include Finland, Israel, Romania and Turkey who will play Serbia, Great Britain, Russia, Latvia and Belgium in Group D.

The tournament will be held Aug. 31 through Sept. 17 featuring 24 contenders.

The second round and later stages of the tournament will take place in Istanbul.

The chairman of Turkey’s Basketball Federation, Hidayet Turkoglu, said the draw "turned out well" for the Turkish team.

"Our aim is to appoint a head coach to our team that the players can get along with. We will meet with Turkish and foreign coaches."

Turkoglu is a former star who played 15 seasons in the NBA.

Spain is the reigning EuroBasket champion after defeating Lithuania in the 2015 final.

The groups are as follows:

Group A (Helsinki, Finland): France, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Slovenia

Group B (Tel Aviv, Israel): Georgia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Ukraine

Group C (Cluj, Romania): Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Spain

Group D (Istanbul): Belgium, Great Britain, Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey