By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
According to the press release: “Euroleague Basketball has announced that the 2019 edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four will be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
It will be the first time that Vitoria-Gasteiz, the home city of one of the EuroLeague’s signature teams, KIROLBET Baskonia, hosts the event. Nevertheless, the venue for the 2019 Final Four – the 15,000-plus seat Buesa Arena – has been home to numerous first-class events, such as the Spanish Copa del Rey and the 2010 EuroCup Finals, among others.
“Vitoria-Gasteiz and Baskonia’s truly loyal fan base have been waiting a long time to host the Final Four,” Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President & CEO, said. “This is a well-deserved recognition for a city that lives basketball like few others.”
“It’s a dream that we have chased for many years and now it is coming true,” Baskonia president Josean Querejeta said. “The 2019 Final Four will put Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava and the Basque Country on the world map.”
Querejeta also thanked the Basque institutions and Mr. Bertomeu “for the trust they put in us. The arrival of the most important event in European basketball means recognition for a club that will be turning 60 in 2019 and a city and territory that breathes basketball through all its pores.”
“The Basque Country is a territory that is accustomed to organizing events at the highest international level related to culture, sports and business,” the institutions that will collaborate in the organization of the Final Four — the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Provincial Council of Alava and the Basque Government – said in a joint statement by Mr. Gorka Urtaran, Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz; Mr. Ramiro Gonzalez, the Prime Minister of the Government of Álava; and Mr. Bingen Zupiria the Minister of the Culture and Language Policy of the Basque Government.
“We have demonstrated a great capability not only to host events, but to spread enthusiasm about those events among our citizens. For that reason, we can assure that the Basque Country, the territory of Álava, and the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, where there exists a great passion for basketball, will give their best to make the 2019 Final Four a great success. This event will give us the opportunity to show to the world an advanced, cohesive Basque Country that is full of beautiful places and very interested in culture and sport.”
Tickets for the event will be available at the official channels during the last quarter of 2018“.