The elite of European basketball, already present for many years as far as Tel Aviv (Israel), will it push back its borders by 2,500 km?

Dubai is in any case in negotiations with the Euroleague so that a franchise based in the emirate eventually joins the second largest basketball competition behind the NBA, said this Monday Abdallah al-Naboudah, businessman and owner of the dubai club.

"Negotiations with the Euroleague began eight months ago, and they aim to include a club from Dubai in the prestigious tournament, and to host certain matches in the city, at the Coca Cola Arena (17,000 seats)", continues Abdallah al-Naboudah, president of the very young Dubai Basketball Club

“There is nothing official yet, the negotiations are continuing” but “the first signals are positive”, adds the latter.

The businessman nevertheless denied reports by some European media, according to which Dubai had offered 50 to 60 million euros to associate the name of the local airline Emirates Airlines with the competition.

“We have not talked about naming rights since the championship has a commercial partner [Turkish Airlines] until 2025”, assures the person concerned.


Sport washing is skyrocketing in the Gulf?

The Euroleague had previously confirmed discussions for a "potential collaboration" with Abdallah al-Naboudah and representatives of the emirate, as part of a visit to Dubai on October 11.

The 13 shareholder clubs of the Euroleague, a league closed by invitation, then went to the United Arab Emirates.

"We invited the Euroleague and the clubs to Dubai to discuss and propose the idea of ​​a future collaboration, as well as to show them our capacities on the ground", confides Abdallah al-Naboudah, underlining the interest "d 'include a club from Dubai' in the Euroleague.

The capital of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, hosted the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks in October for two NBA preseason games.

"Of course, we are excited about the potential for a Euroleague basketball in the United Arab Emirates, but it is still too early to go into details," said Euroleague CEO Marshall Glickman in a statement. communicated after the October 11 meeting, stating that he was "looking forward to continuing the discussion".

The growing investment of the Gulf countries in the world of sport has aroused numerous criticisms from human rights organisations, which accuse them of engaging in “sport washing”.

The Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are all hosting Formula 1 Grands Prix this year, while Qatar is set to host the FIFA World Cup from November 20 to December 18.

The Saudi kingdom also hosted the LIV Golf circuit this year,

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