By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In the peculiar post-COVID world, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has already decided where the Final Four 2024 will be held, however, there’s nothing yet confirmed about this season’s edition of the event.
Berlin was initially scheduled to host the Final Four 2022, which moved to Belgrade due to the COVID measures in Germany. The event will return to Germany in 2024 as it’s already agreed upon and only the formal announcement seems to be missing.
Meanwhile, Dubai after the recent visit of EuroLeague shareholders has emerged as a candidate to host this season’s Final Four as Basketnews reported first, an event for which Kaunas has also presented its proposal.
As Zalgiris GM Paulius Motiejunas revealed to the Lithuanian national television, the plan of Zalgiris doesn’t have the Lithuanian government’s financial support. “We received the answer that there will be no support because a year of crisis is approaching and there is no money for such events”, said Motiejunas, and that’s a big blow on Kaunas’ bid.
It’s not only that. There’s no doubt that inside the “Zalgirio Arena”, the event would be a success, but there were already question marks about the ability of Kaunas to host a big number of traveling fans due to the number of hotels available in the city. Plus there are no direct flights to the city from many international destinations, making things even more complicated. While Vitoria, a city smaller than Kaunas, did host a Final Four in the past, the experience was not optimal.
Dubai is the flipside of that, a city that is a premium tourism destination and has direct flights to a big number of international destinations. The Coca-Cola Arena is a state-of-the-art venue, but nobody can guarantee a sold-out event and EuroLeague doesn’t want to risk empty stands, something that happened a decade ago in London’s O2 Arena.
However, with Dubai knocking on the door of the EuroLeague, a Final Four in the city might be the ultimate test event for the possibility of an expansion.
Meanwhile, it has to be noted that Istanbul, despite the interest in the event, has not made an official bid until now to host the Final Four of 2023 and while there are rumored to be other suitors in Europe, including Prague and Madrid, their interest also has not materialized into a proposal yet.
The final decision of this season’s Final Four host is expected in November.