By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With EuroLeague practically asking for no FIBA World Cup qualifying windows during the season in November and February, FIBA is not ready to accept this kind of modification.
Still, according to the press release, FIBA will study the offers and consult with national federations and domestic leagues in order to take a decision on the matter. However, no changes will be made until 2021.
Here’s the full text:
“FIBA confirmed it met with EuroLeague Commercial Assets (ECA) on Thursday and received three variations of a so-called “international calendar”, with the first of these essentially a replicate of ECA’s proposal made in September of last year. All three versions of the proposal set out to relegate national team activities worldwide to an annual six-week period between June and September, which means national teams would not have the regular and consistent presence and traction throughout the year that is paramount to the global development of basketball.
Additionally, ECA is conditioning any agreement on the calendar to FIBA accepting also a number of new points, which directly impact the internal organization of National Federations and Domestic Leagues.
FIBA will consult with the relevant members of the FIBA family (federations, leagues, clubs, players) about the ECA proposals that would affect them, and act accordingly.
Despite the attempted boycott by ECA, the first and second windows of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers were played successfully in November and February respectively, breaking attendance records for home games.
FIBA is looking forward to the third window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers to be played in June-July.
As the world governing body for basketball, FIBA as always is ready to study and take into consideration proposals that respect national teams and domestic leagues for the cycle after 2021″.