By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After a tough start to the season which forced a number of games to be concluded with 20-0 forfeits, EuroLeague Basketball proposed changes to the rules in order to rectify that, and the clubs have voted in favor.
Per Euroleague Basketball:
The ECA Shareholders Executive Board confirmed the modification of the Special Regulations that were originally approved by the clubs in September 2020, as proposed by Euroleague Basketball. The modification becomes applicable immediately to both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, asserting their retroactive effect over the seven games that have been affected so far due to COVID-19 positive cases.
The modified regulations will, in essence, mirror the original ones specifying the consequences of teams being prevented to play due to imposed local government travel restrictions. However, in cases where a team does not have eight players who are fit to play due to COVID-19, or the team must quarantine due to positive COVID-19 testing:
– The game can be rescheduled up to three times, if there are available dates.
– In case of no availability of dates or the maximum number of rescheduling’s being reached, the club that caused the original rescheduling will forfeit the game.
– No games will be rescheduled to be played after the following dates:
EuroCup Regular Reason (December 22, 2020)
EuroCup Top 16 (February 23, 2021)
EuroLeague Regular Season (April 13, 2021)
EuroLeague Playoffs (May 5, 2021)
The modified Special Regulations will have retroactive effect toward any decisions already applied regarding the 2020–21 season, allowing cancelled games to be rescheduled by the Euroleague Basketball CEO. The games affected to date by these modifications are:
– Turkish Airlines EuroLeague:
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne – Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (Regular Season, Round 3)
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne – Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (Regular Season, Round 4)
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz – Zenit St. Petersburg (Regular Season, Round 3)
Valencia Basket – Zenit St. Petersburg (Regular Season, Round 4)
– 7DAYS EuroCup:
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana – Frutti Extra Bursaspor (Regular Season, Round 2)
Umana Reyer Venice-JL Bourg en Bresse (Regular Season, Round 3)
JL Bourg en Bresse – UNICS Kazan (Regular Season, Round 4)
The modifications of the Special Regulations include reflections shared by the EuroLeague Players Association and the EuroLeague Head Coaches Board.
In the board meeting, the clubs emphasized the need to remain flexible and react to any possible situation moving forward, while always respecting the overarching principles of protecting the health of individuals, preserving the regularity of the competition, and respecting its integrity and fairness.
The updated modifications of the Special Regulations will be included in the 2020-21 Bylaws and made public in the following days.
Clubs also agreed on reinforcing the monitoring of the Health & Safety Protocols and their execution by every team in conjunction with other relevant protocols in place, with the objective of improving them and sharing best practices amongst the 42 clubs across both competitions.