By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
ACB president Antonio Martin said that he has the feeling that the scheduled 12-tournament that will serve as the final phase of the 2019-2020 Spanish League will proceed as planned.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball to know how the health situation will evolve. My intuition is that we are closer to playing the final phase,” Martin said in a video interview with Spanish news agency EFE. “It’s our wish and the wish of the clubs. All the work we are doing is within the philosophy that we’re going to play. You have to play because it’s good for everyone. Fans have been without basketball since March. Being without basketball until, in principle, September, isn’t good. It’s not good for the players, the dynamics of the clubs, for the organization, or the league (in relation to sponsors and others). The scenario is changing and the health is uncertain but after the last two weeks, I’m honestly positive.”
The Spanish League has to make a final decision until May 31, depending on the health measures in Spain until then. The tournament is to be completed in mid-late July, something which creates a conflicting schedule with EuroLeague’s marked dates for its own final phase.
“We were the first to mark a timeframe from June 14 to July 10 to fit a competition phase that requires 14 days,” Martin said. “We understood that there were external factors that made us flexible and adapt. Our interest is to start as soon as possible and consume as little time as possible. If the guidelines set by health authorities don’t allow us to start in time to finish earlier, the most natural way to solve this is to talk with EuroLeague and try to reach an agreement. It’s a “blessing” of a problem that the two competitions are conflicted.”
Martin also talked about whether next season will feature 18 or 20 teams.
“We decided that there won’t be any relegations because there were many teams involved and 11 games left. 33% of the regular season. The clubs understand that 20 teams will be extremely difficult. Ideally, we should have 18. It’ll be a difficult season for everyone, not just basketball. I understand the rights of third parties but we are more pro dialogue than making threats beore starting conversations and negotiations. We defend a 2020-2021 season with 18 teams.”