By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu practically confirmed in his traditional morning meeting with European journalists that the licenses system will change according to the exclusive report of “El Mundo Deportivo” and that Siena will probably lose its A license, because of the financial scandal surrounding the team.
As Bertomeu said: “We will find a formula in which every country will know how many teams will have contracts and which kind (A or B). It will be a combination of the countries’ Euroleague ranking, but also the results of the 13 teams which have an A license”. Practically that means according to “El Mundo Deportivo” that the three top teams of Eurocup will have the chance to be “promoted” in Euroleague and also even the teams with an A license will be in danger of losing it and missing their place in the top European competition.
Jordi Bertomeu was also asked about the schedule of the last Top16 week and the need of all the games starting on the same time: “We don’t want to get into the mentality that one team is playing in order to lose. We believe and we will continue to do so that everyone wants to win. That’s why we never tried to have a conversation about this and accept all the rumors”.
Last, but not least, Bertomeu all but confirmed that Siena will probably lose its A license this summer: “At the moment Siena belongs to Euroleague. However, as you can understand, it will be really difficult to stay in the competition”.