By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Jordi Bertomeu spoke at the breakfast that he holds for journalists and responded to everything. From Dimitris Giannakopoulos and the fine on Olympiacos, to the dispute with FIBA and next year’s wildcards. Eurohoops.net was there and transfers you what he said.
After his initial statement, the Euroleague’s chief executive answered all the questions during the breakfast that lasted two hours and almost became… lunch.
In specific, Jordi Bertomeu said:
… about the fine of 100.000 euros to Olympiacos because of the celebrations in the game against Barcelona and the fine of 150.000 euros for Dimitris Giannakopoulos’s assault on the referees in the game against CSKA: “The rules must be respected. Olympiacos could not control their fans. Dimitris Giannakopoulos acted outside of the rules. Panathinaikos cannot be blamed for what one person does. He has the power and the authority to do it. So we can’t punish thousands of fans for one person. The legal procedure against Giannakopoulos is under way. The lawyers are preparing the trial according to Greek legislation so he can be punished outside of the laws of sports for what he did. And of course he’s the owner of Panathinaikos. He is without a doubt the owner of Panathinaikos. I know he is the owner of Panathinaikos. Everyone knows he is the owner of Panathinaikos. He’ll meet the consequences outside of sports as well.”
… about the big fines compared to the small revenues of the teams: “It’s not a correct comparison. The penalties are not enough. We will have a discussion in order to find ways of prevention. Conducting games behind closed doors is definitely a blow for the product, but we have to do something.”
… about the dispute with FIBA: “We don’t have a problem with FIBA. They asked for money from 2012 but they broke their contract first when they decided to hold national team games on dates other than what was agreed on. The biggest problem then, is not respecting our agreement. We are hopeful that the problem will be solved. We sent a letter in which we say that we agree with having the national team games in September, but not in November. When never changed our stance on this issue. The national leagues have the biggest problem with this change on the calendar.
Nothing is true regarding the contacts of FIBA with the NBA and the 150 million euro budget. We have contacts with the NBA and we know that is not true. The Final Four promotes basketball more than the World Cup, which is FIBA’s most profitable tournament. The Euroleague is more profitable than FIBA. The teams decide and not the federations and the leagues. Like they did in 2000. I know that there are plans, pressure and threats from FIBA, but what is going to happen? Will 14 countries be disqualified from the Eurobasket?
If someone has 150 million euros to give the teams, I’ll say to all of the teams to leave at once and take the money. But this money does not exist. And of course we are talking about one year. We know the market.”
… about FIBA’s plans to expand to the Middle East and North Africa in their plans for the new Euroleague: “No such thing can happen with us. The teams there are very weak and our product will lose value if we do that.”
… about the wildcards: “The UK does not have the prerequisites to get a wildcard for next season. There is not a competitive team there.”
… about the B license to a Turkish team: “We can’t give one out. It’s the only country where the national championship is controlled from the federation and there is no league. We support the leagues and we want professional basketball to exist. An exception is Greece, where the league also does not function properly.”
… about the teams’ revenues and their increase from next season: “We have a three-year plan for 2015-18. According to the previous system of allocating money, a win was rewarded with 7.000 euros and that was indeed a small amount and the demand for more was justified. But the teams decided that. In 2011 a discussion got under way about changing the allocation system, but there was no agreement. So the increase is not a reaction to FIBA but a plan. The distribution will be fairer from here on out, depending of course on each team’s results. The logic here is similar to that of the Champions League.”
… about the differences in rules compared to FIBA’s basketball tournaments: “The main differences between us are two, but I don’t think that that affects our fans that much. Football is simpler, but for instance, it doesn’t use technology. Is it right to cancel a goal?”
… about the next Final Fours: “The Final Four will not be held in Moscow in 2017. Belgrade is a city that interests us. I have spoken with the authorities there. Kaunas is another option. Vitoria has been asking for the Final Four for many years but it is a small city and for our partners, big cities are of a bigger interest. That’s why for now Vitoria is not in our plans for next years. We want to open up new markets as well. Athens is not on our list for the near future.”
… about the possibility of having a Super Cup between the Euroleague and Eurocup winners: “It’s in our plans. We are looking for dates and an arena so it can be permanently held there.”
… about financial fair play: “It was decided by the teams three years ago. Next year it will start getting implemented and the teams will have to slowly adjust. Our goal is for the teams to have balanced budgets. We want to decrease the amount of money spent by the owners and to increase the revenues of the teams. On average the budget is covered by 39% from the owners. The German teams for instance, have profits. As does Maccabi. So the minimum budget that a team must have in order to participate in the Euroleague is 4 million euros. And the budget for the players’ fees should not exceed 65% of the team’s total budget. Next year it’s going to be 75%, the year after that 70% and then we’ll reach 65%. Also, the losses of the teams should not exceed 10% of their budgets.”
… about whether the players’ contracts will be published: “No. But what is the point of one team deceiving the other?”