The 22nd European Basketball Championship of Men ( official: Euro Basket 1981 ) was held from 26 May to 5 June 1981 in Czechoslovakia instead. For the seventh time, the permanent rivals from the USSR and Yugoslavia made the title decision among themselves. In the end, the Soviet record champion won his now 13th European title. The hosts from Czechoslovakia took bronze behind Yugoslavia .
The group A preliminary round matches were played in Bratislava . Group B games were played in Havířov . The games of the placement and final rounds took place in Prague .
Preliminary round
The preliminary round was held in two groups of six teams each. The winner of a game received two points, the loser one point. If a game was tied at the end of regular time, there was extra time. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided against each other.
The first, second and third placed in each group were qualified for the final round and already secured 6th place in the European Championship, the remaining teams played in the placement round for 7th place in the European Championship.
All teams that had missed the first three places to advance in their preliminary group played in a single group for the 7th European Championship position. This went to the winner of the placement round, whose further order decided on the EM places 8 to 12. So the runner-up was automatically eighth in the European Championship, the third placed got the 9th place in the European Championship, etc. The results of the matches that had already taken place in the preliminary round were included in the placement round.
The first, second and third placed in the preliminary round groups played in a group for the entry into the final, for whose participation rank one or two in the final round was necessary. While positions three and four meant participation in the bronze medal, the fifth and sixth place in the final round automatically took EM rank 5 and 6 respectively. The results of the matches that took place in the preliminary round were included in the final round accepted.
Soviet Union (13th title)
Israel
England
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Spain
France
BR Germany
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Yugoslavia
Italy