The international basketball federation (FIBA) has given England’s team the green light to play at 2012 London Olympic Games.

The federation according to the Associated Press has cleared both Britain’s men’s and women’s team to compete at next year’s Olympics even without going through the qualification rounds.

The exemption given by FIBA to the London team as announced after the central meeting on Sunday was based on the promise England gave the board that it will strengthen its long-term basketball program after the games.

Though they qualified for the European championships this year, the AP noted that Britain’s men and women’s teams have been left behind by other European countries in the basketball arena.

The AP named some NBA stars that could be at British men’s team include forward Luol Deng, Detroit Pistons’ Ben Gordon and former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Bonsu added AP now plays for the French league’s Lyon-Villeurbane.