By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An expansion to Dubai has been among the topics attached to the agenda of Euroleague Basketball over recent years but with little progress. Potentially establishing a partnership has been constantly pushed back due to various reasons. Proceeding or not will be decided by the shareholders at the top of next week.
The vote is scheduled for next Monday, November 27, as reported by Meridian sport on Monday.
Upon lengthy evaluation of the project, the Euroleague Basketball shareholders will make a final decision on a possible collaboration, whether to expand the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to the city of the United Arab Emirates or opt to call off the plan.
In any case, there will not be a team from Dubai among participating teams in the 2024-25 Regular Season. Extending such a possiblity to the near future is the current option.
Euroleague Basketball Chief Executive Officer, then still general manager of Zalgiris, Paulius Motiejunas provided a positive response about an expansion to the Arabic country talking to Eurohoops after the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four in Kaunas. However, the general approach among shareholders remains unclear.
The proposal presented by Dubai has been on the table for more than two years. In contrast to attempting to join Europe’s premier club continental competition, the ABA League welcomed the most populous city of UAE at the regional level. Much more significant progress officially placed Falcons Academy Dubai U19 in the list of participating teams of the U19 ABA League Championship, set to tip off later this week.