The International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the North American league (NBA) and the Euroleague recognized this Friday the contact to “talk about the unification of European basketball”, fractured since the Euroleague schism in 2000.
“A meeting took place in mid-September to address the unification of European basketball,” at the initiative of FIBA and with the presence of the Euroleague, FIBA reported in a statement.
The Euroleague organizes the private and almost closed competition that is currently the most prestigious continental tournament in Europe.
“As a key agent in the growth of our sport and a long-time collaborator of FIBA, the NBA was also invited and participated in the meeting,” added FIBA, in reaction to a report from the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, which on Thursday announced the plans for the creation of an “NBA Europe”.
“European and world basketball is close to experiencing an unprecedented earthquake in the history of its competitions. As Marca has learned, the NBA and FIBA have already begun to negotiate the creation of NBA Europe, the European division of the best league in the world. the world. Negotiations that are on the right track so that this division sees the light in the imminent future, “explained the Spanish newspaper.
The Euroleague made a denial this Friday.
“The issues discussed at that meeting never included the creation of an NBA division in Europe,” the European private league said in a statement.
Without clearly defining the details of the project, Marca pointed out that the new competition would replace the Euroleague but would not be integrated into the current North American championship.
Regardless of whether or not the project has the prestigious NBA seal, the tripartite agreement would put an end to the coincidences in the calendar between the Euroleague and FIBA international matches, which sometimes generate conflicts of dates.
clv / jr / dr / psr