European Basketball's Off Court Battles

(ATR) The cold war between FIBA and Euroleague Basketball over the future of European club competitions is heating up.

The international federation officially launches the 32-team Basketball Champions League next month with play scheduled to begin in the 2016-17 season. The new top-tier league will be up against the well-established Euroleague Basketball, which revealed plans last November for a 16-team top-tier league for 2016-17, down from 24 clubs.

A rival league is FIBA's latest salvo in a battle to open up Euroleague to all worthy teams, not just those who get an invitation to join. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of compromise to this point.

"FIBA is open to hold productive talks and conversations. We made concrete proposals last summer, including a true partnership with clubs and Euroleague," FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann tells Around the Rings, "Regrettably these were rejected and we are still waiting for the Euroleague’s proposals on how to resolve the situation."

According to Sportcal, Jordi Bertomeu, the president and chief executive of Euroleague Basketball, has said that he is prepared to hold further talks with FIBA to avoid having two major club tournaments in Europe.

It does appear that having two competing top-tier leagues could split the potential audience and hurt the sport on the continent. But Baumann says that there is a strong difference in philosophy between the two leagues.

He calls the Euroleague "close to the American model of the NBA, without access from the bottom, unless invited into the private group. The Champions League is based on the sporting merits of domestic leagues and championships."

Bauman says that FIBA wishes to remain in a constructive phase in dealing with Euroleague but he tells ATR a solution must eventually be reached. "European basketball cannot be held hostage by a few, although very respectable, stakeholders and each country must take the necessary steps at home to assess what is best for them."

Written by Gerard Farek

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