“If the Euroleague does not pay compensation to the VTB League clubs, they will go to court”

The Council of the VTB United League in Moscow turned out to be revolutionary in many ways, because its members made a number of important decisions for the new season.

The main one concerned the composition of the participants.

The Polish Zielona Gora and the Estonian Kalev, which were withdrawn in the spring for political reasons, were replaced by the Moscow MBA and Samara.

Let the number of teams remain the same, the tournament regulations have undergone major changes.

They were introduced in order to increase the number of matches in the conditions of a ban on playing in European competitions.

In the first part of the regular championship, 12 teams will play each other in two rounds.

In the second, they will be divided into group A, which will include the six strongest, and group B. They will have two more rounds.

According to the results of the regular season, eight quarter-finalists will be determined.

At the same time, the semi-final and final series will be played up to four victories, and the quarter-final - up to three.

Returning to the topic with newcomers, the positive verdict on them did not come as a surprise to the fans.

The General Director of the League, Ilona Korstin, stressed that the clubs have been watched for more than one year.

“We relied on the marketing component and financial guarantees - this is the main thing.

They confirmed the budget required to enter the United League.

These clubs have competent management, and they are able to put together decent lineups that must be competitive and up to the level, ”the official website of the VTB United League quotes her as saying.

In turn, the honorary president of the organization, Sergei Ivanov, stressed that both teams were accepted for a trial period of one season.

“We have to see how they will look from a sporting point of view, if they start losing to everyone recklessly, as happened with Parma in the first year.

To be honest, we would not really like to have such teams in our composition, ”the functionary emphasized.

Meanwhile, both clubs are actively preparing for the debut at such a high level.

For example, the MBA was headed by Sergey Karasev, and Samara, the current owner of the Cup of the country, was headed by Sergey Bazarevich.

The Volzhans were also joined by two leaders of CSKA-2, Philip Gafurov and Yuri Umrikhin.

Not surprisingly, the city is aiming for nothing less than getting into the playoffs.

“The only difficulty in entering the league for us was that we had to build an arena that can accommodate at least five thousand spectators.

As soon as we built it, we submitted an application.

Our main asset was an experienced coach - Bazarevich.

We took on several young players, I think that not only we are betting on youth now.

As for foreigners, let's see how it will develop, ”TASS quotes the president of Samara residents, Kamo Poghosyan.

But the applications of two other contenders, Runa and Uralmash, were rejected, although it was they who met in the Superleague-1 final this year.

Ivanov explained this by a discrepancy with almost all points of the regulations.

“There are no halls, no bank guarantee of the budget - there is none of that.

We have learned from bitter experience and do not want to accept clubs that in the middle of the season will say: "We have run out of money, we are no longer playing."

This happened with Krasny Oktyabr, and with Krasnye Krylia, and with Vita.

Well, sports results were lame.

Therefore, when they say: “And the governor promised us,” for us it is an empty phrase.

Because we will not sue the governor, but we will sue the bank if it violates the financial guarantee, ”Ivanov emphasized.

However, the president of the VTB United League, Sergey Kushchenko, did not rule out the admission of Runa and Uralmash to the roster in the near future if they work to put the infrastructure in order.

“They are developing very decently, but due to strict compliance conditions, they have not yet become participants.

We informed them what they need to do and improve in order to enter the VTB United League in the future,” the head said.

The changes affected not only the rules of the competition, but also the limit on legionnaires.

In the new season, it will be tightened from eight people to six.

This verdict was also adopted in connection with the suspension from European competition.

“We understand that today our clubs do not participate in major continental competitions.

We had eight legionnaires, and now we have six.

In the technical application, their number does not change.

We also removed the FIBA ​​license, according to which the player could only play in international tournaments, ”said Korstin.

Thus, the only opportunity for domestic fans to see European giants in the country may be the VTB United League Super Cup, which should be held at the end of September before the start of the regular season.

According to Kushchenko, negotiations are currently underway with teams from Serbia and Turkey.

At the same time, the meeting did not rule out the appeal of Russian clubs to the court for unlawful exclusion from European competition.

“If the Euroleague does not pay compensation to the VTB League clubs, they will go to court.

A separate big lawsuit from CSKA is not ruled out.

It is possible that there will be many lawsuits against the Euroleague, exclusively financial,” Ivanov emphasized.

"A lot of interesting matches will be played"

RT asked the 1988 Olympic champion Sergei Tarakanov to analyze the key decisions made at the Council.

In his opinion, under the current conditions, the membership of the VTB United League could well have been expanded.

“14, and 16, and even 18 teams could start.

In this case, we would have the opportunity to watch even more Russian basketball players.

But 12 is a good number.

Still, it is also risky to expand the league too much, since the level would drop significantly.

I think a lot of interesting matches will be played.

And the four giants (Zenith, CSKA, UNICS and Lokomotiv-Kuban) will remain unchanged.

The rest will start “biting” each other, and even beginners will fight in the second echelon,” Tarakanov emphasized.

In the division of teams into two sixes after the first part of the regular season, he also did not see a problem.

The expert believes that the opportunity for two teams from group B to get into the quarterfinals at once will create the necessary intrigue.

But the limit on legionnaires, according to him, should have been tightened even more.

“I think it could have been changed to four foreigners.

But even such an indulgence will give the Russians an additional chance.

You need to understand that we will not see legionnaires of the level of the strongest Euroleague basketball players in the new season.

All of them will try to continue their performance at this level.

They are not even interested in the Eurocup, including from a financial point of view, ”added Tarakanov.

Commenting on the final composition of the participants, he sympathized with Runa and Uralmash, who were not accepted into the VTB United League, but noted that the management can also be understood, since they are trying to avoid early withdrawals from the tournament.

“Today it is difficult for private clubs to provide guarantees.

I feel sorry for the teams, but the league also takes care that there are no problems during the season.

At the same time, Runa and Uralmash are really doing a great job.

I watched the end of the season performed by Muscovites in Superleague-1.

They looked good both in game and in management.

And Yekaterinburgers confidently won the trophy.

The arrival of Yevgeny Pashutin on the coaching bridge has fully justified itself, ”said the Olympic champion.

Finally, in his opinion, the Super Cup of the United League is not able to fully replace the Euroleague for the Russian giants.

“Unfortunately, the absence of European competitions will be a serious irreparable loss for domestic clubs.

Interest in the Euroleague in the country was huge, because this is a top-level competition with crazy intrigue.

And most importantly, our teams had the opportunity to play many good games.

There is nowhere to go.

Let's see how things will go with the Super Cup and the invitation of Serbian and Turkish teams.

They have their own problems.

Nevertheless, I hope that the tournament will be a small cherry on the cake before the start of the season, ”summed up Tarakanov.