By Aris Barkas/ barkas@Eurohoops.net
Russian teams and possible substitutions for the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season are among the topics for the ECA Shareholders Executive Board meeting on Thursday, June 16.
List of 2022-23 EuroLeague teams:
Alba Berlin
Anadolu Efes
AS Monaco
AX Armani Exchange Milan
Bitci Baskonia
Crvena Zvezda mts
CSKA **
FC Barcelona
FC Bayern Munich
Fenerbahce Beko
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Olympiacos
Panathinaikos OPAP
Partizan NIS *
Real Madrid
Valencia *
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Zalgiris
Valencia and Partizan NIS have emerged as the favorites to get wildcard participation (*). They were considered prime candidates for the open spots along with Virtus Segafredo Bologna, as reported in early March. The Italian club went on to punch in a ticket by winning the 7DAYS EuroCup championship leaving the remaining contenders on the wildcard list.
Regarding the Russian clubs of the previous season, both Zenit and UNICS had a one-year contract and are not projected to play in the 2022-23 season. However, the case of CSKA is peculiar (**). The team based in Moscow has expressed intentions to compete in the next season and seems ready to move its home court away from the Russian capital, if necessary. Anyhow, it will remain part of the Shareholders Executive Board.
In March, due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war, the ECA Shareholders Executive Board decided to withdraw the participation of Russian Federation teams in both EuroLeague and EuroCup for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Previous results of CSKA, Zenit, UNICS, and Lokomotiv Kuban were annulled.