By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The Russian teams have asked for a one-month break in their Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season schedules during the ongoing Euroleague Basketball meeting on Monday.
Following the last meeting held on Friday, Euroleague Basketball announced the decision of all 18 participating teams concerning the three Russian outlets, CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan, and Zenit Saint Petersburg. The three teams became set to play home games in neutral venues, until further notice. The option added on the table a few days later can push back potentially assigning new sites to the approaching home fixtures of the three clubs and looks complicated to fit in the span of the 2021-22 schedule.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war have resulted in multiple players, coaching staff members, and team executives of Russian teams leaving their jobs in recent days.
Zenit ranks fifth overall in EuroLeague, the highest among the three teams of Russia. Sitting at 14-9, The team led by Spanish tactician Xavi Pascual is currently scheduled to take on LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in a suspended home contest Tuesday and visit Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv Thursday.
Half a game behind the team based in Saint Petersburg, CSKA sits sixth at 14-10. The team guided by Greek head coach Dimitris Itoudis is scheduled to meet Real Madrid in a Regular Season Round 28 home contest on Friday.
UNICS holds eighth place, the lowest leading to the Playoffs at the end of the Regular Season. Croatian Velimir Perasovic’s side has won 13 out of 25 games so far. The current schedule features an away game versus AX Armani Exchange Milan Tuesday and a home fixture opposite ASVEL Thursday.
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net