By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In the middle of the Euroleague Final Four, FIBA announced an more “agressive” move in the ongoing powerplay for the control of the top European club competition.
According to the press release issued on Saturday “the Board of FIBA Europe met in Malta on Friday and, among others, debated the future of the European club competitions… As part of this process the Board of FIBA Europe acknowledged that it does not serve the interests of the clubs and the sport itself to have three club competitions in Europe and has agreed to explore ways of how to address that issue. Following a compliance review of all recognised entities, which led to the recent derecognition of the current ABA League, the Board approved the provisional recognition of other regional leagues – Baltic Basketball League (BBL); Baltic Women’s Basketball League (BWBL); Central European Women’s League (CEWL).
In the matter of ABA League, the Board of FIBA Europe gave its full backing to a project for a new competition which is to replace the de-recognised Adriatic League. FIBA Europe will meet with club representatives in the region in the next few days, to present a concrete plan and discuss the details of the project, following a first round of constructive discussions which took place in the last few months.
The Board was also informed that the legal procedure against Euroleague Properties SA for outstanding payments since 2012 has now been initiated, as requested by the Board of FIBA Europe at its previous meeting.
The Board is looking forward to constructive discussions touching on all the above, in a meeting with European Federations and leagues on 27th May at the FIBA headquarters in Mies.
Following that meeting further decisions are expected to be taken at the meetings of the FIBA Central Board and the Board of FIBA Europe during the month of June”.