By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague’s agreement with the 10 clubs for a 10-year commitment under the cooperation of IMG has been a fact since November 10. As reported by Eurohoops, FIBA didn’t reply to Euroleague’s and clubs’ invitation for a meeting in Barcelona and the response of the International Federation is still expected.
According to well-informed sources, after the latest developments, the first meeting between the FIBA members has been scheduled to take place in Rome on Thursday, with the main topic of discussion being the way the federation will respond. Six basketball federations are expected to take part in the meeting, namely Turkey, Spain, Greece, Germany, France and, of course, Italy. It’s also possible that this meeting will take place at the offices of the Italian Olympic Committee in Rome.
We have to wait to see what will officially emerge from this meeting in Rome, however there are already indications that Patrick Baumann is very angry and determined to lead the situation to a rupture. How can this happen? Baumann can ask from the federations to impose penalties to the clubs that have already signed with the Euroleague and, based on FIBA’s statute, those penalties can lead to the clubs’ elimination from the national championships, due to their participation in a league, which is not officially recognised by FIBA.
It is also said that the president of the Italian Basketball Federation, Giani Petrucci, would have no problem to start this procedure by eliminating Emporio Armani Milano, as the federation’s relationship with the Italian club is almost hostile.