By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The second division of ABA League which was introduced this season will consist of 12 teams and also 12 teams will compete in the “first division” for the upcoming 2018-19.
Those are already decided and they are Buducnost VOLI, Cedevita, Cibona, Crvena Zvezda mts, FMP, Igokea, Mega Bemax, Mornar, Partizan NIS, Petrol Olimpija, Zadar and the champion of the ABA League 2.
The best teams of the domestic leagues from ex-Yugoslavia, which are not part of the first division, will play in the second division according to their sporting results.
Here’s the official press release which includes all the changes made.
“The ABA League j.t.d. Assembly has decided that both ABA League and ABA League second division shall be composed of 12 clubs each.
With a goal of protection of the quality and its further progress of the competition, having in mind exclusively sporting criteria, the ABA League Assembly has decided that the National standings shall be abolished and that, as of the 2018/19 season, the participants shall be determined only based on the results in the competitions under the umbrella of the ABA League j.t.d. (ABA League first and second divisions).
In accordance with the decision of the ABA League Assembly, the promotion to the ABA League first division is possible only from the ABA League second division. The last placed team of the ABA League first division in the 2017/18 season will lose the right to participate in the 2018/19 season in the ABA League first division and its place will be given to the champion of the ABA League second division, which will be directly granted a place in the first division. Also, as of the 2018/19 season, the 11th placed team of the ABA League first division in the 2018/19 season and the second placed team of the second division in the 2018/19 season, will play in the Qualifiers for a spot in the ABA League first division in the 2019/20 season. The format of the Qualifiers will be best of three, while the home court advantage will be given to the team that played in the first division in the previous season.
The maximum number of clubs from one country in the ABA League first division will be five.
In accordance with the confirmed criteria, the participants of the ABA League first division for the 2018/19 season will be Budućnost VOLI, Cedevita, Cibona, Crvena zvezda mts, FMP, Igokea, Mega Bemax, Mornar, Partizan NIS, Petrol Olimpija, Zadar and the champion of the ABA League 2 (the winner of the Final Four Tournament in Čačak).
The club that takes the last place in the ABA League first division will have a guaranteed place in the ABA League second division in the following season, while the other participants of the second division will be determined based on the achieved result in their national championships. Each country will have two participants in the second division.
Instead of the Final Four tournament, as of the 2018/19 season, the ABA League second division champion will be given after the Playoffs, where four best teams of the regular season will compete. The last placed team of the ABA League second division in the 2017/18 season loses the right to participate in the 2018/19 season, regardless of its result in the national championship.
The confirmed system of the competition shall not be changed until the end of the 2024/25 season, if there are no significant changes in the European basketball by then.
The ABA League j.t.d. Assembly has also stated that the level of the quality in the current season of ABA League first and second division has been high, as well as that everything has been done in order for the decisive games to be the true peak of the season. At the same time, the ABA League j.t.d. Assembly has congratulated Borac and the town of Čačak for being awarded the organization of the ABA League second division Final Four tournament, which will take place on 3 and 4 April 2018.
In the end, the Assembly has concluded that ABA League j.t.d. has, with all of the competitions under its umbrella, first and second division of ABA League, ABA Super Cup and the U19 ABA League Championship, strengthened its position of the driving force of the basketball in the region in every aspect”.