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New York Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
NBA Europe is coming but British basketball is bitterly divided. What will it mean?
There is potentially little more than a year before the NBA launches a new professional basketball league in Europe in partnership with FIBA, the sport's governing body — and the United Kingdom is prominent in their sights. 'I'd say it's the single biggest opportunity (in Europe),' said George Aivazoglou, the NBA's managing director for Europe and the Middle East (EME), speaking on stage at SportsPro Live at London's Kia Oval last month. Advertisement Details of the proposed new league are not yet fully defined, but the NBA's laser-like focus on having teams in major European cities has been clear from the outset. In the UK, London and Manchester are being earmarked for representation in a 16-team competition that could also feature teams from Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan and Istanbul, according to Aivazoglou, when he spoke to EuroHoops. Many of those continental European cities are already home to teams that compete in EuroLeague, which has established itself as the second-best basketball league in the world since breaking away from FIBA in 2000. But no British team has ever competed in it. This season, the UK does not even have a representative in EuroCup, regarded as EuroLeague's second-tier club competition. No wonder, then, the UK is regularly referred to as the sleeping giant of European basketball. This almost total lack of relevance at the elite professional level jars with soaring levels of interest and participation in the sport among the general population. Basketball is the second-most popular team sport in the UK behind football, according to Sport England's most recent Active Lives survey. Data compiled by the NBA indicate the UK is its second-largest merchandise market in Europe behind only France, and home to more current subscribers to NBA League Pass — the league's premium live game subscription service — than any European country other than Germany. Virtually everyone with an interest in basketball sees fertile ground for growth in the UK, and the establishment of two NBA Europe franchises in London and Manchester in 2026 could be genuinely transformative. But as things stand, the hypothetical giant that is British basketball is not simply sleeping. It is stuck in a self-destructive nightmare. Sunday, May 18 was the flagship event of the British club basketball season, as 13,401 spectators attended the O2 Arena in London to watch the inaugural Super League Basketball (SLB) play-off finals. You would be forgiven for being unaware; while the women's and men's finals were available to watch live for free on DAZN, media coverage of the event was scant. Advertisement The action on the court was not elite, but it was fast, physical and compellingly competitive (for the most part — Leicester Riders ultimately blew out Newcastle Eagles 105-74 in the men's final). The arena experience would be familiar to NBA fans: pumping music and dancers during breaks in play, cheerleaders at half-time, presenters trying to get the crowd going, and even a 'kiss cam' on the giant screens dangling from the roof. Much of the crowd skewed very young, with a multitude of schools represented. The abiding impression was of a fun, family friendly day out, and a reasonably priced one at that, with lower tier seats for the afternoon priced at £48 ($64) for adults and £34 ($46) for children and cheaper tickets available higher up. That might have been enough for the day to be viewed as a success by Super League Basketball. The league was formed last summer by the nine professional clubs left standing amid the wreckage of the British Basketball League, which had its operating licence terminated by the British Basketball Federation (BBF) in June 2024 due to the liquidation of Miami-based minority investor 777 Partners. At that time, the BBF worked closely with the clubs to ensure the 2024-25 season could take place, granting SLB an interim licence to operate the league and even stepping in to help save several clubs including the London Lions, who were also owned by 777. But the absence of any BBF representatives at the O2 Arena highlighted the tensions that have boiled over between UK's basketball governing body and its major clubs since January. The BBF awarded a 15-year licence to operate the men's professional league to a group of American investors led by Marshall Glickman, formerly a Portland Trail Blazers president and acting CEO of EuroLeague. SLB clubs declined to make a rival bid while questioning the legality of the BBF's tender process, and subsequently raised their concerns with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), UK Sport and Sport England, who have pledged a combined £4.5million in funding to British basketball over the next four years. The British Basketball Federation strongly denies any wrongdoing, and the DCMS and UK Sport are not investigating any issues. Advertisement The clubs have also refused to engage with GBB League Ltd (GBBL), the company set up by Glickman and his fellow investors to run the new league. At its nub, the dispute is about control. The consensus view among SLB club owners is that the BBF has essentially sold their commercial rights to a third party without their consent and their clubs are not financially viable in any league that the clubs do not own. Several sources within SLB, speaking under the condition of anonymity to The Athletic, said the clubs have collectively invested more than £20million in the league's first year of operation, adding that a number of league and team commercial deals have been scuppered by the BBF's decision to award the long-term licence to GBBL. 'The BBF hasn't sold the clubs' commercial rights,' BBF chair Chris Grant tells The Athletic. 'The only thing that BBF has, in inverted commas, 'sold' is the right to operate a league.' A source within GBBL insisted that the company only controls the commercial rights of the new league. There is also serious scepticism within SLB that Glickman and his fellow investors have the money to make GBBL happen, and a concern that the BBF's decision may have been primarily motivated by the £15million that Glickman's group pledged up front to 'support operations and growth activities' over the first two years of the new league's operations. On the question of GBBL's funding, a BBF statement issued to The Athletic said: 'GBBL's bid included letters of intent from their investors plus the necessary information for the BBF's independent expert advisors to be able to consider the source and sufficiency of funds to meet the up-front commitment and deliver their business plan. 'The decision to appoint GBBL as preferred bidder was subject to them ensuring that the proposed funding was formalised into legally binding commitments. GBBL also indicated that they were continuing to engage further reputable investors with a view to providing additional assurance and a longer runway for the development of the league beyond the fully funded first phase. All investors are subject to the BBF's owners and directors' test and required to submit legally binding confirmation of their funding commitments.' A statement from GBBL added: 'We have provided proof of funds to the BBF and also recently announced the highly respected WestRiver Group (WRG) have joined the leadership of the GBBL investment group. They have advised, built and invested in a number of sports brands and have a very impressive track record.' Advertisement Publicly announced investors in GBBL are Chris Dillavou, acting executive vice president and chief operating officer at Greg Norman Company, Arjun Metre, senior managing director at global investment holding company Tennor, and investment platform WestRiver Group, led by Erik Anderson. Sir Keith Mills, former chair of LOCOG, is an advisor to the group. On the subject of the tender process, the BBF said: 'The tender documentation asked for a clear and compelling vision for the development of the league, along with a detailed and credible business plan showing how the bidder would support the development of talented British players; add to the already significant social impact of basketball in communities; contribute to the growth and success of the whole game; and create a platform to reach and delight more fans. The main financial consideration for the independent assessors and ultimately the BBF Board was that there was evidence of sufficient funding from reputable sources to deliver that plan. GBBL satisfied all these criteria. 'Putting the operation of the league out to open tender has confirmed a widely held view that, from an economic perspective, British basketball is worth a great deal more than it has previously generated. The fact that GBBL's investment will go into the central league infrastructure creates a stronger platform for individual clubs to boost their own growth and sustainability. 'We make no secret of the fact that the BBF will also benefit through an enhanced league licence fee. The huge progress we have made with the GB national teams and elsewhere has been achieved largely through the efforts of volunteers and a hugely committed but tiny core team. Alongside the recent award of performance funding by UK Sport — itself a vote of confidence in the BBF's governance — we shall now have the resources to do much more to delight fans across the whole of Britain and fulfil the huge potential of British basketball both on and off the court.' Grant also pushes back on SLB's other objections. 'All we are trying to be is a federation,' he tells The Athletic. 'We're not trying to be an empire. We're trying to not be huge. I have this phrase that I use, which is minimum viable federation. What's the minimum viable capacity that we need to do our job? And our job is to get brilliant basketball on the court, to get great development for players and coaches.' Grant maintains he does not know why SLB did not submit their own bid for the licence, and is bullish on the integrity of the public process that led to Glickman's group being chosen. 'We only had one bid, but the competition wasn't between bidders,' he insists. 'We got a 20-page analysis back from our independent panel with a review, and it was agreed that their bid cleared our bar. 'They had a humility but also a basic level of understanding around Britain-specific things (to do with the home countries) that convinced us that they could run a British league, and not simply parachute some North American idea of a league into this country.' Glickman is full of ideas as he speaks from his home in Portland. The CEO of the newly minted GBBL enthusiastically lays out the broad strokes of his grand plan to raise up British basketball. 'A core part of our strategy is to showcase a limited number of games on free-to-air television,' he says. 'By following that strategy, we're not going to be able to command meaningful rights fees for free-to-air television, but we're not trying to. We want great viewership.' Advertisement GBBL plans to launch in the 2026-27 season with 10 teams who will face each other home and away. 'But there's another core part of our strategy, a key pillar, which is what we're calling mini-tournaments,' he adds. 'We'll bring four clubs into a market for a weekend where there's a proper arena. We're having a kind of basketball festival, but more than that, it's really a communal gathering. 'There'll be art, there'll be culture, there'll be food, there'll be pubs and there'll be music big time. We're going to turn these weekends into something that people are going to want to be at whether or not they're a hardcore basketball fan. Hopefully we're going to turn them into basketball fans.' These mini-tournaments would yield points that contribute to regular season standings and play-off seedings, encouraging all the teams involved to compete hard on both days. 'It gives us a platform to showcase the game in proper arenas with a great atmosphere, cool things like a glass floor, for example — things that really make it pop.' Glickman describes GBBL as an 'innocent bystander' in the dispute between the SLB and BBF, and is clear that he wants the nine SLB clubs to be in his new league. 'We would like to see the Super League clubs be part of the future of British basketball,' he says. 'We fully embrace that and we continue to try reaching out.' On the surface this appears to sit uneasily with Glickman and the BBF's desire to see more major British cities represented at the top-level of club basketball; a press release issued last month revealed that GBBL would issue invitations to parties interested in operating expansion clubs in Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Southampton/Portsmouth, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Coventry — none of which currently have SLB teams. But the first right to join GBBL is reserved for the nine SLB clubs. 'If all nine clubs wanted to participate, then we'd only have one expansion club in the first year,' Glickman clarifies. What does not appear to be on the table, however, is the level of control over GBBL that SLB clubs currently hold over their own league. 'Our governance will include board seats — observational board seats,' Glickman says. 'Which means full transparency and access to everything in the decision-making process, but non-voting, for two clubs on a rotating basis.' Advertisement Glickman also wants to create a more attractive domestic alternative for the best young British basketball talent to the well-worn path of leaving for the American college system. 'Welfare standards need to improve, training standards need to improve,' he insists. 'Part of what we're going to do is really commit ourselves to being a player-centric league, and improve the conditions for the players and make it attractive for the best British talent to stay home.' Home-grown player salaries would be exempt from GBBL's economic rules on sustainability and competitive balance. 'It has to make sense for them financially, but more importantly, it has to make sense for them in terms of developing and accelerating their career path,' he adds. Then there is the NBA and FIBA's European project. GBBL is actively positioning itself as the natural home for any British franchises. 'The NBA coming to Europe from my perspective and from a Great Britain perspective is the best thing that could ever happen,' Glickman says. 'This is the sixth biggest GDP in the world. They need basketball in the UK to be lifted up. This is in everyone's interests. It's in everybody's interests to bring it up, to uplift it.' In their efforts to establish new leagues from scratch, the NBA and GBBL are effectively operating in parallel with a view to potentially launching in time for the 2026-27 season — though in an interview with The Guardian last week, Aivazoglou declined to commit to that timeframe. The summer of 2026 is the moment when EuroLeague's licence agreement with its 13 shareholder clubs expires, providing them with a window to opt out. Real Madrid and Barcelona are widely believed to be keeping their options open regarding a potential NBA defection, as is ASVEL Villeurbanne, the French club majority owned by San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker. Last month, ALBA Berlin departed from EuroLeague after 24 years to join FIBA's Basketball Champions League, with the club's managing director, Marco Baldi, pointedly voicing his belief that 'the European competitions under the FIBA umbrella will develop significantly in the coming years'. EuroLeague appears to be creaking, but it has also voted to expand from 18 to 20 teams for the 2025-26 season, with Valencia and Dubai expected to join. Advertisement A collaborative solution that unites the top level of European club basketball does not seem entirely inconceivable. In a remote meeting with international media this week, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum cited 'very productive' discussions between NBA, FIBA and EuroLeague representatives at a meeting in Geneva last month and added that all parties will continue to talk. There is no indication British basketball's bitter dispute will be resolved soon. The BBF and GBBL project total confidence in their path to this point and believe that FIBA is on their side. The SLB clubs are entrenched behind a cause they view as necessary and just, and have asked basketball's governing body for recognition as they prepare to operate outside the jurisdiction of the BBF. A prolonged stand-off could even undermine the recent progress British basketball has made at international level, which has seen both the men and women's senior teams qualifying for Eurobasket this year — not least because the licence issued by the BBF to GBBL does not cover the women's league. 'In this day and age it's terrible to overlook women's sport,' Vanessa Ellis, coach of Sheffield Hatters, said after her team's 83-73 victory over Oaklands Wolves in the SLB women's play-off final at the O2 Arena. 'We know we're not in their plans — so what's going to happen to us? Nobody is going to support a women's league on its own. We haven't got that profile.' A BBF statement on this point said: 'The women's league is operated under a separate licence, which runs through to 2028. The sustainability and development of the women's league is a key consideration for the BBF and something which we are discussing with Women's Basketball League Ltd — the company which holds the current licence.' Glickman added: 'The licence is only relating to the men's league, but we're quite interested also in the women's side and believe in it. I hope that it unifies at some point.' There is also the worrying precedent of Japan, which was banned from participating in FIBA competitions in 2014 for its failure to merge two rival professional leagues. The uncertainty in British basketball is going nowhere, and when the time comes for the NBA to try to wake the sleeping giant of European basketball, there is no telling what they will find.
Sydney Morning Herald
17 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Alessandro Circati: The Socceroos' next big thing on being back for Australia vs Japan – and better than ever before
'I don't take things for granted. Even a single training session, I grab it with both hands. I have worked on many muscle groups which I didn't really think were so important. I worked on and understood how my body works even better than before. I made new friends, and I started watching basketball twice a week, watching the EuroLeague. So it was actually good fun. 'If I had to decide, I would not get injured, but getting injured, at least I made it worthwhile. You've got to take it on the chin, focus on yourself, become a better athlete – which I think I've become.' Alessandro Circati. Credit: Getty Images When Circati began on his road to recovery, the staff at the rehab centre he attended in Bologna asked him: what's your goal? His answer was twofold: make it back onto the pitch before the end of the Serie A season, and be fit for the Socceroos' crucial June window to help them clinch World Cup qualification. That was doubly important because Thursday night's clash with Japan – in which a win would seal a spot at the 2026 World Cup for Australia – is at Optus Stadium in Perth, his hometown. Though he wasn't born there, that's where he grew up; his father Gianfranco moved to Perth in 1998 to play for the Glory in the old National Soccer League, and while he only spent a season with them, he loved it so much he migrated permanently eight years later. Circati has ticked both boxes. At club level, his return was initially being handled with caution, with the 22-year-old an unused substitute for six games once he was deemed fit enough to make a match-day squad – until a string of results below them on the Serie A table put Parma at heightened relegation risk, forcing them to break glass in case of emergency for their final two fixtures, and bring in a player who has been dubbed 'the wall of Parma' by Italian media. 'My dream was to play in Serie A, but I don't feel like I've done it yet.' Alessandro Circati 'That's when things started to change,' Circati said. 'The coach came up to me, and he goes, 'How much are you able to play?'' Both games were pivotal, and Circati was pivotal in them. Against Napoli, he drew a foul deep in stoppage time from Giovanni Simeone which saw a penalty awarded against Parma in the same passage of play overturned. It finished 0-0, meaning the eventual Italian champions had to wait to be crowned. 'It's also worse when they celebrate in your home stadium, so that's what we didn't want,' Circati said. 'It felt good to deny them.' Alessandro Circati celebrates Parma's safety after a 3-2 comeback win away to Atalanta. Credit: Getty Images In Parma's final game, away to Atalanta, was more 'hectic', in his words. Stung by two counter-attacking goals despite largely controlling the game, Parma were 2-0 down at half-time, and needed a draw from the match to confirm their safety in the top league. 'We went into the change rooms at half-time … we looked at ourselves in the eyes, and we said we're gonna come back,' he said. 'Two goals, very doable. We went out, we took it goal by goal. We weren't too worked up. The first one led to the second, and then the second led to the third, and then there you go. It's probably the best comeback I've actually been a part of in my life in football. I've never come back from 2-0 down and won 3-2. Big satisfaction.' His deployment was a vote of major confidence from manager Cristian Chivu, who replaced Fabio Pecchia – the coach who oversaw Circati's first-team integration as they won Serie B last season – in February. 'When the coach changed, obviously, it gives you a bit of self-doubt,' Circati said. 'He doesn't know who you are, I'm out until the back end of the season … but hats off to Chivu because he knew who I was, he watched previous games, and he welcomed me with two arms open.' Pecchia had handed Circati a start in Parma's first four games of the season, before he went down with the ACL – the highlight of which was a 2-1 win at home over another Italian giant, AC Milan. That's the team his family supports. 'I had my uncle in the grandstand with an AC Milan scarf on,' he said. 'I flipped him off. When the final whistle blew, it was one of my happiest moments to this day. Huge sense of relief, where we can belong – we belong in that league.' The Socceroos also changed coach during Circati's injury lay-off, but to one he was familiar with: Tony Popovic (and his assistant Hayden Foxe) was at Perth Glory when he was a youth player before he departed for Italy. Popovic's initial plan was to leave him out for this squad – Circati would have checked into camp anyway and watched the Japan game from the stands on his off-season trip home – but given how good he looked for Parma, it was a no-brainer to bring him in and stiffen up his back three, which is weakened in the absence of Harry Souttar and Hayden Matthews through injury. Alessandro Circati. Credit: SMH There is huge transfer interest in Circati from Juventus and Napoli, as well as clubs in the English Premier League, but he is happy at Parma, and happier still that he is such a big part of their plans. 'It's better to be wanted than unwanted,' he said. 'Obviously, it's great hearing big clubs want you, and that Parma aren't really willing to sell you, the president doesn't want to sell. It's a good situation, you feel like you're wanted. This season coming, I can almost say I'll be 100 per cent playing at Parma because I just think that's the right decision to do at this point, just to be able to play a whole season. Loading 'My dream was to play in Serie A, but I don't feel like I've done it yet. I want to play a whole season, lots of games, enjoy it. For me, it was even a bigger motivator to stay up.' But that's for next season. Top of his footballing bucket list right now is to help the Socceroos get to the 2026 World Cup, and then play a big role in it. 'It's that simple,' he said. 'It's a big ambition, a big dream, but that is my goal.' Circati watched every game of the last World Cup in Qatar and was blown away by not only Australia's campaign, but what it did for the country. 'You breathe a different air, watching the World Cup,' he said. 'Wherever you are, it's a different environment, an event that brings everyone together – a whole nation, many nations together. It's amazing vibes. And I'm very proud of them, what they did. It's the best a Socceroos team has done to this day.' Until the next one, hopefully.
The Age
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Age
‘I view things differently now': The Socceroos' next big thing is back, and even better than before
'I don't take things for granted. Even a single training session, I grab it with both hands. I have worked on many muscle groups which I didn't really think were so important. I worked on and understood how my body works even better than before. I made new friends, and I started watching basketball twice a week, watching the EuroLeague. So it was actually good fun. 'If I had to decide, I would not get injured, but getting injured, at least I made it worthwhile. You've got to take it on the chin, focus on yourself, become a better athlete – which I think I've become.' When Circati began on his road to recovery, the staff at the rehab centre he attended in Bologna asked him: what's your goal? His answer was twofold: make it back onto the pitch before the end of the Serie A season, and be fit for the Socceroos' crucial June window to help them clinch World Cup qualification. That was doubly important because Thursday night's clash with Japan – in which a win would seal a spot at the 2026 World Cup for Australia – is at Optus Stadium in Perth, his hometown. Though he wasn't born there, that's where he grew up; his father Gianfranco moved to Perth in 1998 to play for the Glory in the old National Soccer League, and while he only spent a season with them, he loved it so much he migrated permanently eight years later. Circati has ticked both boxes. At club level, his return was initially being handled with caution, with the 22-year-old an unused substitute for six games once he was deemed fit enough to make a match-day squad – until a string of results below them on the Serie A table put Parma at heightened relegation risk, forcing them to break glass in case of emergency for their final two fixtures, and bring in a player who has been dubbed 'the wall of Parma' by Italian media. 'My dream was to play in Serie A, but I don't feel like I've done it yet.' Alessandro Circati 'That's when things started to change,' Circati said. 'The coach came up to me, and he goes, 'How much are you able to play?'' Both games were pivotal, and Circati was pivotal in them. Against Napoli, he drew a foul deep in stoppage time from Giovanni Simeone which saw a penalty awarded against Parma in the same passage of play overturned. It finished 0-0, meaning the eventual Italian champions had to wait to be crowned. 'It's also worse when they celebrate in your home stadium, so that's what we didn't want,' Circati said. 'It felt good to deny them.' In Parma's final game, away to Atalanta, was more 'hectic', in his words. Stung by two counter-attacking goals despite largely controlling the game, Parma were 2-0 down at half-time, and needed a draw from the match to confirm their safety in the top league. 'We went into the change rooms at half-time … we looked at ourselves in the eyes, and we said we're gonna come back,' he said. 'Two goals, very doable. We went out, we took it goal by goal. We weren't too worked up. The first one led to the second, and then the second led to the third, and then there you go. It's probably the best comeback I've actually been a part of in my life in football. I've never come back from 2-0 down and won 3-2. Big satisfaction.' His deployment was a vote of major confidence from manager Cristian Chivu, who replaced Fabio Pecchia – the coach who oversaw Circati's first-team integration as they won Serie B last season – in February. 'When the coach changed, obviously, it gives you a bit of self-doubt,' Circati said. 'He doesn't know who you are, I'm out until the back end of the season … but hats off to Chivu because he knew who I was, he watched previous games, and he welcomed me with two arms open.' Pecchia had handed Circati a start in Parma's first four games of the season, before he went down with the ACL – the highlight of which was a 2-1 win at home over another Italian giant, AC Milan. That's the team his family supports. 'I had my uncle in the grandstand with an AC Milan scarf on,' he said. 'I flipped him off. When the final whistle blew, it was one of my happiest moments to this day. Huge sense of relief, where we can belong – we belong in that league.' The Socceroos also changed coach during Circati's injury lay-off, but to one he was familiar with: Tony Popovic (and his assistant Hayden Foxe) was at Perth Glory when he was a youth player before he departed for Italy. Popovic's initial plan was to leave him out for this squad – Circati would have checked into camp anyway and watched the Japan game from the stands on his off-season trip home – but given how good he looked for Parma, it was a no-brainer to bring him in and stiffen up his back three, which is weakened in the absence of Harry Souttar and Hayden Matthews through injury. There is huge transfer interest in Circati from Juventus and Napoli, as well as clubs in the English Premier League, but he is happy at Parma, and happier still that he is such a big part of their plans. 'It's better to be wanted than unwanted,' he said. 'Obviously, it's great hearing big clubs want you, and that Parma aren't really willing to sell you, the president doesn't want to sell. It's a good situation, you feel like you're wanted. This season coming, I can almost say I'll be 100 per cent playing at Parma because I just think that's the right decision to do at this point, just to be able to play a whole season. Loading 'My dream was to play in Serie A, but I don't feel like I've done it yet. I want to play a whole season, lots of games, enjoy it. For me, it was even a bigger motivator to stay up.' But that's for next season. Top of his footballing bucket list right now is to help the Socceroos get to the 2026 World Cup, and then play a big role in it. 'It's that simple,' he said. 'It's a big ambition, a big dream, but that is my goal.' Circati watched every game of the last World Cup in Qatar and was blown away by not only Australia's campaign, but what it did for the country. 'You breathe a different air, watching the World Cup,' he said. 'Wherever you are, it's a different environment, an event that brings everyone together – a whole nation, many nations together. It's amazing vibes. And I'm very proud of them, what they did. It's the best a Socceroos team has done to this day.'
Al Etihad
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Etihad
Dubai Basketball bow out of ABA as EuroLeague beckons
3 June 2025 01:00 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI) Dubai Basketball's remarkable run in the Adriatic Basketball League (ABA) came to an end with a 114-97 defeat in the decider of the three-game semi-finals to Partizan Belgrade. Playing away in Serbia, the UAE outfit led for more than 25 minutes before their defence crumbled to end their Eastern European campaign. Had the team held on for another 15 minutes and shored up the defence on rebounds, they would have stunned the most experienced, decorated side of the competition. Yet, the Dubai club can hold their heads high and can look forward to a level up in international competition. Dubai Basketball are awaiting formal confirmation of their inclusion in the EuroLeague for the next season as Europe's elite competition looks to expand to 20 teams from the current 18. Making a strong impression in their debut in the ABA will only cast the spotlight more firmly on Dubai Basketball. According to reports, a shareholders' meeting held last week by EuroLeague laid out the expansion plans. Though two teams are to be added, regulars Alba Berlin have announced they are pulling out, so three teams have been pencilled in. Without naming the teams, EuroLeague officials said the list will be submitted for ratification 'contingent upon the completion of all required formalities'. Basket News identified the trio as Hapoel Tel Aviv, Valencia Basket and Dubai Basketball, while reporting that Alba Berlin would be joining the rival Fiba Basketball Champions League from next season. The report added that Hapoel Tel Aviv, the reigning champions of Europe's second-tier EuroCup, have been granted a one-year licence, while Valencia Basket – who were relegated from the EuroLeague in the 2023/24 season – and Dubai Basketball will hold three and five-year licences respectively. In the revised schedule post the expansion, each club will play an expanded regular season of 38 games, up from 34. Six teams will advance directly to the play-offs with four others entering a play-in tournament. The road ahead looked so rosy that Dubai Basketball may have lost focus on the job at hand on Sunday night. They had bounced back from the opening-game loss, also in Serbia, to win at the Coca-Cola Arena and level the series against Partizan Belgrade. In the decider, they led 50-47 after the first half but a 14-point run, starting late in the third quarter, swung the momentum decisively with star tactician Zeliko Obradovic playing a vital role for Dubai's rivals. Besides Obradovic, Duane Washington Jr. notched a team-high 18 points. Sterling Brown and Carlik Jones added 17 points apiece while captain Vanja Marinkovic chipped in with 15 points (5/5 triple-pointers) and Tyrique Jones had 14 points with 5/5 two-pointers. For Dubai, their Latvian import Davis Bertans stood out with 18 points, including 11 in the first quarter. Nate Mason followed with 16 points. Dubai's Slovenian coach Jurica Golemac said afterwards: 'I would like to congratulate Partizan on the victory; there were a lot of points and quality basketball tonight. In the third quarter, our energy started to drop, and Partizan stood out, especially with the individual quality of Marinković, who scored 3-4 times for three points and took the game away from us. 'We also missed [Awudu] Abbas, who was injured in the last match. It was very difficult for us to match Partizan's athletic abilities, and this was seen on the rebounds, where Partizan had 11 more possessions. We cannot be dissatisfied because we led against them for 23 minutes, and we played good and smart basketball. I wish Partizan all the best in the final.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Greece forced to postpone basketball final over violence fears
The Greek government has postponed a basketball game between rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, threatening to cancel the national championship after tensions between team owners escalated at a match on Sunday. Olympiacos owners Panagiotis and George Aggelopoulos, and Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos, clashed over alleged obscene gestures and offensive chants by spectators. The sides were scheduled to play the third of five potential end-of-season games on Wednesday, but that game has been put on hold after Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said the owners would appear in front of the deputy sports minister and promise that this behaviour will not be repeated. "Otherwise, this year's championship will be permanently suspended," Marinakis added. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, two of Greece 's biggest basketball clubs, recently played each other for third place in the EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi. Sport in Greece has been marred by violent incidents on and off the pitch in recent years. In August 2023, AEK Athens fan Michalis Katsouris was stabbed to death in violent clashes before the team's Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb. A year earlier, Greece was shocked when 19-year-old soccer fan Alkis Kampanos died in fighting between rival groups. Authorities have promised to crack down to tackle the issue. In April this year p olice arrested 63 people on charges of being members of a criminal organisation with links to sports violence.
