By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
BERLIN – During the unformal meeting with selected members of the press, which included Eurohoops, EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas, and President Dejan Bodiroga talked about a lot of topics and clarified about next season the importance of the Serbian market.
“The Serbian market is unbelievable and very important for the EuroLeague”, said Motiejunas while also adding, “But nobody wants what we have seen happening the recent ABA Finals, that’s not good for anyone. The overall impression from the presence of the two Serbian teams is positive, however, this incident between two EuroLeague teams in the local league doesn’t help”.
Motiejunas practically admitted that both Crvena Zvezda and Partizan belong to the EuroLeague, but according to the bylaws the champion of the ABA League doesn’t get directly a spot in the competition, but the priority to get in for the next year.
Dejan Bodiroga added with a smile: “They don’t have a wild card, but they have the priority to get the spot”.
So practically Crvena Zvezda has a spot for next season and Partizan is waiting, with three more candidates, Virtus Bologna, ALBA Berlin, and Valencia to get one of the three remaining wildcards, One of them will be left out with the situation being as described by Eurohoops two months ago.