FIBA lifts Russia basketball ban, opens door for 2016 Olympics

Some good news brought Russian basketball fans a considerable amount of relief on Sunday.

FIBA, international basketball's governing body, has overturned its suspension of Russia - a ruling which forbade the nation from competing in the EuroBasket 2015 tournament in September. Missing the event would have assuredly spoiled the team's chances of participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, since it serves as an Olympic qualifier.

Related: FIBA grants Brazil automatic bid for 2016 Olympics

Russia was banned in July - a result of "years of of instability," according to Reuters' Dmitriy Rogovitskiy. The Russian Basketball Federation (RFB) was forced by a court decision to hold new presidential elections in order to establish new leadership within the organization.

FIBA also cited government interference as additional justification for its punitive actions against the Russian federation.

Andrei Kirilenko, who played in the NBA for 13 seasons, is expected to be a potential candidate for RFB's new presidency.

With Sunday's ruling, Russia can now play in next month's European Championship tourney.

Twenty-four countries will participate in the event, with the first- and second-place-finishing teams earning an automatic bid to Rio next year.

The tournament spans across four countries - Germany, Latvia, Croatia, and France - and the Russian national team is scheduled to play in Group A of the competition, in Montpellier, France. They'll face Israel in their first game, on Sept. 5.

Russia won bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London, coached by Cleveland Cavaliers bench boss David Blatt. The team featured Kirilenko and current NBA players Timofey Mozgov and Alexey Shved. It was the country's first men's Olympic basketball medal since the breakup of the former Soviet Union.