By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
From Belgrade, Jordi Bertomeu presented for the first time the Euroleague’s wish for four open spots in the upcoming Euroleague regular season under the new 16 teams format.
As he said during a press conference before the game Crvena Zvezda – Panathinaikos: “VTB United League, ABA Liga, German’s BBL and Spain’s ACB are the best leagues in Europe and they will be rewarded with one spot in the Euroleague regular season”. That means that one more spot will belong to the Eurocup winner and there will not be a qualificaton round for one spot, as it was initially planned.
No wildcard will be given, despite what many expected. Bertomeu clarified that: “We are not working and thinking on wild cards. We are thinking on the clubs that have proven that they are the top in Europe and in addition representatives of other leagues. When we have the opportunity to enlarge the competition we will examine it. Our offer is that those four leagues deserve a spot in Euroleague, they deserve at least three spots in Eurocup and this is the same proposal for all of them. The criteria has to be fullfield by all the clubs since we establish the financial fair play”.
At this point VTB United League has accepted the offer and the questions is what ABA, BBL and ACB will do. A contract with Euroleague will mean that no teams from those leagues will compete in the FIBA club competitions with the FIBA Champions League set to be presented on the 21st of March in Paris, France. A total of 11 clubs (CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Laboral Kutxa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zalgiris Kaunas, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Anadolu Efes, Fenerbahce, EA7 Milano) have signed a 10 year contract with Euroleague, which secures their spot in the regular season.