The soccer World Cup held last year in France saw passions run high. Now, France, as host to the final round of the European Basketball Championships, is once again the center of attention for sports fans.

As well as the chance to become the last European champions of the millenium, teams have another incentive to play at their best - the top five teams automatically qualify for the Sydney 2000 Olympic games.

Games were played at regional sites throughout France last week. Beginning with the quarterfinals, which begin July 1, action will shift to Paris.

Many commentators, in fact, see qualifying for Sydney as the main priority for players in Paris. It is true that the European championships cannot compare to the World Championships, the most recent of which took place in Greece last year.

Also, the World Championships pit the different schools of basketball against each other, making for a more exciting game. Without the Americans, Brazilians, Australians, Chinese and others, the European championship loses much of its interest.

But the current world champion, Yugoslavia, has come to Paris, as have teams from Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Lithuania. Not to mention the Russians, who were second at the Athens World Championship.

The lure of qualifying for the Sydney Olympics will only add spice to the competition as the Czech Republic, Israel, Slovenia, Turkey and others are also still alive in the competition.

Greece, Macedonia, Hungary and Bosnia were eliminated during the first round. The second round started over the weekend.

The only team that can consider itself booked for Sydney is Yugoslavia. But the team almost did not make it to Paris because of the Balkans crisis. The European Union recommended two months ago that international sports federations exclude the Yugoslavs from tournaments and championships. The executive director of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Lyubomir Kotleby, said that the EU decision was not binding, and his federation would decide itself what measures to take.

This statement was followed by pressure from the French government on the championship's organizers, demanding that the Yugoslavs be excluded and threatening not to grant them visas.

British Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Chris Smith added fuel to the fire when he said that "sport must not be allowed to serve as a propaganda vehicle for (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic," and that sporting ties with Yugoslavia should be broken.

But FIBA stood firm and repeated that Yugoslavia would play in Paris. Finally, it was the end of the NATO bombing campaign that resolved the situation.

The Yugoslavs are the clear favorites for the championship. The team has a strong lineup and a confident attitude. On many occasions, Coach Zhelko Obradovic and his players have shown how they can turn a losing game into an unexpected victory. Last year's world championship final against Russia is just one good example.

The U.S. "dream team" aside, the Yugoslavs have the best lineup in the world with players like Zhelko Rebrachi, Dejan Bodirogi, Vlade Divac and others. But, as if trying to even up the other teams' chances, bad luck struck the Yugoslavs. Alexander Djordjevic and Zhelko Rebracha are both laid up with serious injuries and it will be hard to replace them.

The Yugoslavs' strengths will be Divac, who has been playing for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, and Dejan Bodiroga, considered the forward with the best technique in Europe.

As for Russia, optimists say they expect a Russia-Yugoslavia final. The Russians will have to place their hopes on their top-class defenders brothers Zakhar and Yevgeny Pashutin, Igor Kudelin, Vasily Karasev and Dmitry Domani. Support should come from the capable but inconsistent forwards Yevgeny Kisurin, Alexander Panov, Valery Tikhonenko and the rising young star Andrei Kirilenko.