By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Olimpia Milano and Real Madrid clashed in Italy for Round 27 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with the latter grabbing a comeback win in a match played behind the closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak.
EuroLeague Basketball President and CEO in Jordi Bertomeu was present at the game and used the chance to address the ongoing situation, noting that protecting everybody’s health comes first:
“Well, it’s not the conditions we would like to have our games [played in] but unfortunately, we are going through this difficult process that many countries at this moment are suffering. For us, the most important thing is to protect our players, our coaches, referees, our fans.”
He also explained that EuroLeague will do its best to follow the instructions of authorities, both international and local, while at the same time trying to keep the competition going as regularly as possible:
“To do so, we need to follow the instructions of the international authorities but also the local authorities, because they know better than us what we have to do in order to protect all our communities. At the same time, we are trying to protect the regularity of the competition. Once our players are protected and our fans, then it’s time for our competition, trying to avoid problems with the calendar. So, that’s what leads us to this game without spectators but we want to stay close to our players,” he said.
There were also measures taken in a couple of 7DAYS EuroCup games. Venice beat Brescia, which hosted the game without fans, to advance to quarterfinals while the clash between Darussafaka and Virtus Bologna has been suspended and will be played on a neutral court, most likely in Belgrade, Serbia.