By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The proposal of FIBA to Euroleague and its clubs about the future of the top European competition is on the table and according to it, a final deal has to be reached until the March of 2016.
According to Eurohoops sources a new meeting between the two sides is expected in December and by the end of January a deal may be in place in order for the new competition, named “Champions League” at this point, to be officially presented to the public.
The current plan includes a qualifying round of 32 teams played in September. Those teams will be divided into four final eights and the winner of each tournament will get a place in the regular season, along with the champions of Italy, Germany, France and Lithuania and the “G8”, eight clubs with longtime contracts with the league. Those are – at least for the moment – FC Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain), Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece), Panathinaikos Athens (Greece), Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (Israel), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Anadolu Efes Istanbul (Turkey) and Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul (Turkey).
Those 16 teams will be the backbone of each season, while the clubs of the final eights which didn’t qualify to the regular season, will play in the FIBA Europe Cup. Also FIBA wants all games to be played on Thursday and not on Friday, while in some cases, maximum four times each season, it’s possible for each team to play two games for the competitions in one week, on Tuesday and on Thursday.
With 30 million euros quaranteed for the next season to be divided in the 16 teams, the plan of FIBA and its secretary general Patrick Baumann is still under discussion, however the clock is ticking.