By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Prior to Euroleague Basketball deciding to propose a modification to Article 6 of the Special Regulations regarding the 2020-21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup campaigns, Manos Papadopoulos, Zenit Saint-Petersburg GM, talked to Greek television channel OPEN about the original plan sending teams unable to comply to a 20-0 defeat.
“Obviously, the competition status is damaged,” he mentioned referring to games being canceled and awarded to the side managing to satisfy the Special Regulations approved in September by the ECA Shareholders Executive Board clubs due to COVID-19, “This is not interesting for the fans.”
The Russian club suffering a coronavirus crisis and failing to have at least eight players fit did not make the trip to Spain for the Round 3 and Round 4 matches versus TD Systems Baskonia and Valencia. The initial ruling saw them lose both games, 20-0. However, the approval of Tuesday’s proposal will reschedule the contests at a later date.
“Tests were done every day and at some point, many people negative one day were positive the next, an unforeseen situation,” added Papadopoulos walking through the tough recent days for Zenit, “I believe the protocols were unattached to the reality of the situation.”