By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In expectations of the 2022 Euroleague Final Four which will be held in Belgrade, Serbia on May 19-21, a meeting was held among the representatives of the city as well as the representatives of the organizational committee, Olympic committee, Crvena Zvezda and Partizan.
Deputy Mayor Goran Vesic was leading the meeting while Bozidar Maljkovic, Nebojsa Covic and Zeljko Obradovic were also present among others. Everybody in the room expressed the wish to push for two spots in Euroleague for the Serbian teams and agreed that the organization of the Final Four is a step in the right direction.
“We jointly stated that the Final Four is not only a great event, but also a great promotion for our tourism. Belgrade is one of the few places where all athletes can come, we are open to everyone, and every big competition is a promotion of sports and tourism and enables us to continue to invest in our sport,” Vesic said and added.
“Everything is ready, we know two participants of the Final Four, we will find out two more soon. This is an opportunity to lobby for our sport, our goal is for Belgrade to have two participants in the Euroleague. Milano, for example, cannot have two participants but Belgrade can. We want to show that we can have two participants in the Euroleague. This is an opportunity to promote our country and our sport in these few days in May.”
Obradovic, who was a participant in the previous Final Four held in Belgrade, as the head coach of Fenerbahce BEKO, confirmed that the organization received only praise from all sides.
“I know what kind of hospitality people encountered in Belgrade when the Final Four was held here for the first time, I was here with my club and I know how much everyone came back full of impressions. That was crucial for the Euroleague to give Belgrade the organization of the competition again, I believe that everybody will feel comfortable, as was the case back then.”
As Eurohoops already wrote back in early March, with the Russian teams out of the Euroleague and the future highly uncertain, three EuroCup teams would be prime candidates for a spot in the competition. Valencia, Virtus Bologna, and Partizan have been among them.