Translated material
Convention Violators
The number of participants in the ULEB Cup has been increased to the detriment of FIBA-Europe
As expected, at a meeting of the Assembly of the Union of European Basketball Leagues (ULEB) in Slovenia, it was announced that the number of participants in the second most important club tournament, the ULEB Cup, would be doubled - from 24 to 48 teams. Moreover, clubs from nine countries, whose representatives did not participate in the fight for the trophy last season, received additional admission to the tournament - Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Montenegro, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine. Increasing the format of the ULEB Cup automatically means that the European Cup under the auspices of the continental branch of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA-Europe) will turn into a competition of little use with a dubious status, and only average players will participate in it.Earlier, when ULEB announced its intention to expand the ULEB Cup, this approach was sharply criticized by the Greek President of FIBA Europe, Georgios Vassilokapoulos, who said that “a war has begun” between his organization and ULEB. The fact is that a couple of years ago, after a long confrontation, the parties reached an agreement on a compromise and a clear division of spheres of influence regarding the holding of European Cups. At the moment, ULEB has actually violated the “convention” by strengthening its tournament at the expense of a total weakening of FIBA-Europe club competitions.
We asked the head of the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF), Sergei Chernov, who also holds the high post of Vice President of FIBA Europe, to comment on the explosive situation: “Now, hot on the heels, it is difficult for me to comment on the decision to expand the ULEB Cup. Its possible consequences have yet to be rethought, Chernov noted. - Although it is obvious that the only men's club continental tournament held by FIBA-Europe (European Cup - Ed. ), in terms of the composition of participants, will now become much weaker. On the other hand, Russia received a third ticket to the second-ranking European Cup - the ULEB Cup. This place will be taken by the capital’s Dynamo, which, with its new coach Svetislav Pesic, will be quite capable of winning the trophy and earning a ticket to the Euroleague.”
Due to the absence of any meaningful meaning, FIBA-Europe, even before the innovations, ULEB refused to host the Challenge Cup, which was won last season by our CSK VVS-Samara under the leadership of Valery Tikhonenko. The tournament was truly a “popular” one, since in the semi-finals and at the decisive stage the Volga team had to meet with Cypriot clubs that had never achieved anything. In fact, the second most important women's tournament, the European Cup, means nothing. Winning this trophy still did not become a reason for the top management of Dynamo Moscow to consider the season a success - due to the failure to qualify for the Russian championship, the general director of the club had to leave his post. In the current balance of power, the activities of FIBA Europe are actually limited to competitions among national teams and the Women's Euroleague. There are practically no real arguments to oppose ULEB and lure men's clubs into their tournament. Neither from a financial nor from an organizational point of view.
Russia will be represented in the ULEB Cup by the silver medalist Kazan UNICS, the bronze medalist Khimki near Moscow and the capital Dynamo, which took fourth place. The tournament formula will be announced later, just before the draw for the competition, scheduled for the end of June in the Italian city of Jesolo. In total, clubs from 24 countries are going to compete for the trophy. In addition to the nine states and Russia already mentioned above, these are Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Holland, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Turkey.