By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Last summer Jordi Bertomeu ended his 22-year reign at the helm of the EuroLeague, with Dejan Bodiroga taking the role of the competition’s president and Marshall Glickman appointed as the new CEO.
In an interview with Mozzart Sport, Bertomeu talked about his successors, saying that he doesn’t see anything new in the EuroLeague but adding that he’s trying to stay away from the day-to-day stuff in the competition he was with from the beginning.
“I know them both. One was an outstanding player, and the other was my consultant for several years. I don’t know their plan, but from what I can read, there is nothing new. There is talk of changes in the competition – it was also in the plans I had presented to the clubs,” Bertomeu said.
Spreading to new markets like Paris and London was also nothing new.
“I talked about Paris and London a few years ago and gave them wild cards for the EuroCup before I left. So there’s nothing new. I hear they want to move the business to a digital area, which is also not new. I don’t know what the plan is. I didn’t talk to them, they didn’t contact me, and I don’t see anything in the media that wasn’t in my plans before leaving.”
Giving Partizan Mozzart Bet a wild card for the return to the EuroLeague after eight years was one of his last actions as the acting president and CEO of the competition. He also had long-term plans for both Belgrade teams.
“I gave Partizan the wild card. It was the right time. There were objective terms for two teams from Belgrade. As Crvena Zvezda was the ABA League champion, Partizan started building and was important in the Eurocup. I planned to give them long-term licenses, like with Alba. Berlin was in my plans, and I gave them a two-year wild card. It’s the process. Asvel and Bayern Munich were in my plans for the future, and before receiving long-term licenses, they received two-year wild cards. I had a process like that in mind for Crvena Zvezda and Partizan.”
At the start of the first season without Bertomeu being an integral part of the league, new CEO Glickman confirmed the talks with Dubai about a potential collaboration. Also, nothing new per Spaniard.
“We started talking last year in February, and I saw true commitment on their part. The other thing, it was something innovative and disruptive, and EuroLeague was always like that. That’s why I started the conversations, and as I realize they were continued with the new management,” Bertomeu said. “It’s not easy because it’s not all about money. Money can’t solve everything.”
The new management also continued conversations with FIBA about calendar issues with windows for the national teams interfering with the clubs’ calendars.
“When we talked, and that was when Patrick Baumann was there, we presented at least three alternatives to FIBA before the start of the windows and after them. They said that the windows are not negotiable and that this is fundamental for them.”
Bertomeu and his associates presented detailed plans to the FIBA about possible calendar changes.
“These are documents of 50 pages each. Adjustments to the calendar were based on three concepts. First, give the players six to eight weeks for complete rest. Second, a month or a month and a half should be set aside for representative competitions without overlapping with other competitions. The rest of the year, about nine months, should be left for club competitions – national and European leagues. That was the concept.”
Plans were long-term, but FIBA wouldn’t budge.
“We presented the calendar until 2026. Three different alternatives were on these concepts, but windows were not something that FIBA wanted to discuss because, according to them, national team matches during the season are of key importance for global basketball,” Bertomeu stated. “I have a different opinion, although I respect theirs. But we saw that Slovenia, as the European champions, were not at the World Cup because they did not qualify. This is a consequence of that policy. Do you want to watch national team games without the best players and think it helps basketball? I’m not sure.”
The former president of the EuroLeague also talked about players leaving Europe early for the NBA.
“I talked with David Stern many times about it. Why does the NBA take the young players who didn’t have minutes in European basketball if they can’t compete to sit on the bench for two to three years, bearly playing? We are losing players at that age, not just in Europe but also in the NBA. That was my concern. I tried to find a solution for this problem, but despite many conversations with the NBA, we couldn’t find the way around it,” Bertomeu concluded, talking to Mozzart Sport.