J.Bertomeu thanks Lithuania for the future of the Euroleague and a different reality from basketball | Euroleague

“We have made one of the most difficult and saddest decisions in the history of the Euroleague and in some of our careers. But we did it with the confidence that it was the best solution for both basketball and our licensed clubs.

We appreciate all the possibilities of extending the Euroleague and European Cup seasons. We analyze all the medical protocol, availability of sand, accommodation conditions, TV transmission conditions, schedules. But it was impossible to do that.

We did not want to prolong the problems for the next season, so the decision had to be made now, “said J. Bertomeu in his introductory speech during a video conference.

He reiterated that the Euroleague wanted to end the season in the usual way, without reducing the number of teams or changing the format of the tournament.

The Euroleague chief also thanked cities, including Kaunas and Vilnius, who went to great lengths to help save the season. Lithuania was probably the most realistic4 candidate to accept Euroleague fights if the season had been extended.

“They offered the maximum guarantees in terms of safety, health and situation management. In some cases, complete government assistance. We are very grateful for that tremendous effort. They did everything possible to take care of every detail so that we could continue the season. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that, “sighed J. Bertomeu.

“We are working for the future now and we are preparing for next season,” he added.

15 minutes presents the most interesting parts of the conversation about the future direction of the Euroleague.

– Is it true that a Euroleague club has expressed its intention to withdraw from the Euroleague and what are the financial consequences for last season?

– No one plans to leave the Euroleague due to the coronavirus crisis. And no one at the meeting expressed a desire to leave the Euroleague.

It is too early to talk about the exact financial implications. We started working on these issues last week to help and advise clubs on strategies to overcome financial problems, mainly in the commercial aspect and with the sale of tickets.

– Panathinaikos boss Dimitris Giannakopoulas of Athens was the only one to oppose the end of the season and hinted at the league’s financial transparency. How can you comment on that?

– I do not recall that Dimitris has expressed any concern about transparency. He was concerned about the financial impact of the decision, how it would affect the clubs. And they all shared those concerns. But today, all the clubs agreed that this is not the most important thing now.

The economic consequences are another matter. Euroleague clubs believe that the safety of players and teams is now paramount. We will have time to discuss the economic consequences and how to reduce them. But today that was not the main theme.

We cannot deny that the financial consequences will be significant. It’s not just about the media, the TV rights, it’s also about ticket sales and whatnot. We want to minimize the impact of the impact.

But there are many teams that work closely with the Euroleague leadership and do their best to better manage the situation. We are not only trying to reduce losses, but also to ruin other strategies that would be useful to us in the future.

– The start of the next Euroleague season is scheduled for October 1. How will the Euroleague behave if fans are not admitted to all arenas at that time or if not all teams can train in their countries?

– It’s too early to talk about this. We need to monitor the evolution of the pandemic in our command areas. Now I cannot say that there will be no spectators. It is likely that in some countries there are fans from the beginning of the season, in other countries there will be restrictions, and somewhere fans will not be able to participate in sporting events.

Decisions change every week. I think in some states the season will start without fans, but we think things will be back to normal in a few months.

If we have problems, we will try to solve them by reprogramming the game, changing the order of the game or using strategies that allow the season to proceed normally.

We will try to program so that the season at home begins with those teams where the situation will be better. It must be understood that this season will be different and we will try to adapt to the new reality.

We will continue to address this situation and will have more information in the coming weeks.

– How is the Euroleague preparing for the second wave of coronavirus?

– We share information with the clubs about the requirements in the arenas in case of a second coronavirus wave in the fall. We must be prepared for that. Our managers are in constant contact with the clubs, who communicate with the municipalities and try to guarantee all the security requirements.

– What influence did your decision have on the hostile position of the Euroleague players’ association and do you not believe that basketball players were offered financial conditions to receive only 5%? Salary for one game a month in extreme conditions, simply deterred basketball players from trying to end the season?

– On Saturday afternoon, the players presented a long list with good arguments. At that meeting, our vision was similar. And the purpose of the meeting was to listen to the basketball players.

But his main argument is not financial, but situational. They were further accentuated by the fact that many players had very different training conditions during those two and a half months.

The players also emphasized that returning to the field and playing high-level basketball would be very challenging. I want to emphasize that many players have expressed their concern that they will not be able to demonstrate the level of play that the Euroleague deserves. This shows that they feel a responsibility for the prestige of the Euroleague.

Players emphasized health and safety conditions more, even more: different training opportunities, and certainly not that 5 percent.

– Clubs like Partizan in Belgrade or Virtus in Bologna are now very angry because they will not play in the Euroleague next season. How did you come to the opinion that Euroleague participants will remain the same next season as this year?

– We had to follow the same direction. I understand that the leading teams are now unsatisfied. We also had strong Euroleague leaders, but that doesn’t mean they deserved the title. There were still plenty of options for other teams to win titles. The same with the European Cup.

What we have tried to show is that we cannot reward anything in this situation. I understand that the clubs want to be part of the Euroleague next season and we are proud to want to play here. Unfortunately, we are now faced with circumstances that no one wanted to face. I think everyone must understand how exceptional this situation is and therefore the consequences are exceptional. We are not happy, but we are a reality.

We need to understand our values: We cannot call champion teams or penalize those teams if they cannot finish the season normally.

I don’t divide teams. I think we are all losers in this situation.

We understand that some clubs have invested heavily in lineups, infrastructure. But I hope you understand why we made that decision.

– Will the Euroleague Final Four take place in Cologne next year?

– It is too early to answer this question. We had a very productive conversation with friends from Cologne. Both sides would like to try to celebrate the last four again, if possible next year. We will do our best to make this happen. But we cannot guarantee that yet.

– There have been rumors for some time that the Euroleague will lose its main sponsor, Turkish Airlines, and its position will be taken by Gazprom.

– We do not expect any change in the position of the General Sponsor. We have had an excellent relationship with Turkish Airlines for the past 10 years and will continue to do so in the future.

I have noticed that Gazprom is often talked about. Frankly, I’ve never had conversations on this topic, so I don’t know where that information comes from.

We are very satisfied with Turkish Airlines. We have successfully worked with them for 10 years and have no problems.

– Why the Euroleague, like the UEFA Champions League, could not extend the season until August?

– It would have affected next season. In that case, it would have taken 1.5 months of rest after the season, another 1.5 months of preparation for the next season, and then we could only start the season around November. We just couldn’t finish before the Olympics. Especially when there are still national championships.

I don’t know how UEFA will handle the schedule. But we really didn’t want to mess with the schedule, which is already complicated.

– What blow will this crisis hit your main investor, IMG?

– We communicate very closely with IMG. During those conversations, we shared similar ideas and concerns, we wanted to overcome all problems together. We will not deny it: the financial impact on our projected economic plans will be. But we also talk about the future, and there is no question about our cooperation.

We just have to adapt to our realistic forecasts. This still requires information. But there is no doubt that IMG will continue its commitments.

– Was the decision not to announce the champions of the season unanimous?

– We didn’t even discuss it, nobody argued. Everyone realized that at this stage of the season, despite Anadolu Efes’ position, it didn’t mean they deserved the title more than others. As we have already seen, the winners of the regular season do not always become champions. There was no controversy and no one even asked about it: everyone understood and decided not to announce the champions.

– Will the Euroleague reward the best basketball players and coaches with individual awards of the season?

– I think the same argument applies here as to why we will not have champions. Therefore, we will follow a similar line for the awards. We played too few games to decide the best players and coaches.

– Is the Euroleague really going to increase the number of teams?

– We do not intend to increase the number of teams. We are going to expand the equipment market. We want to have teams in Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, the markets that are necessary for our future growth. But that does not mean that we are going to change the number of teams.

– Is this global crisis the best time to sit down with FIBA ​​at the negotiating table and resume peace talks?

– We did not agree and we will not agree with FIBA ​​on the concept of four international club tournaments in Europe. I think everyone understands that this is not real and fair.

But sometimes problems open up opportunities. Maybe that could be the case.

Even before the pandemic, we started talking to FIBA ​​in the past few months. Clearly, both sides were now focused on their problems. But by then, we already had some conversations.

I think now the atmosphere of FIBA ​​has changed. Probably not just because of the pandemic, but also because of other things, we need to accelerate those conversations. This does not mean that the number of tournaments will be reduced. But I cannot deny that we have a new reality and that everyone has to work to adapt to that new reality.

It all depends on the progress of the conversations. We are always open for conversations.