By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It’s the first time that EuroLeague has taken such an action, but it’s also the first time that such statements were made.
EuroLeague issued the following press release: “Following the comments made yesterday by Gedvydas Vainauskas, President of 7DAYS EuroCup club Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius to the media, Euroleague Basketball wishes to clarify the following: by no means do these words represent neither the sport of basketball, the European basketball family nor the Euroleague Basketball organisation at any level.
On the contrary, European basketball has always been and will continue being an example of integration on and off the court, where cultures, races and religions have always come together under one passion, the sport of basketball. It is precisely these many cultures, languages, races and ways of understanding and living the sport which makes it a unique and enriching experience as well as a tool for bringing people together, people who have made history with some of the greatest performances in European basketball. The views expressed by Mr. Vainauskas are deeply offensive, harmful, and contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect.
Euroleague Basketball continues with its firm support to celebrating multicultural and multi-ethnical differences, using sport as a bridge between cultures. Euroleague Basketball strongly condemns any kind of discriminating comment or act of any kind against race, gender, sexuality or any other human condition.
A disciplinary proceeding has been opened by Euroleague Basketball against the Club, while it will be proposed at the upcoming 7DAYS EuroCup General Assembly that Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius ceases to represent EuroCup clubs at the Board of the competition”.