ULEB president Van Den Spiegel: 'EuroLeague is killing basketball' / News - Basketnews.com

Former player and current ULEB president Tomas Van Der Spiegel believes the EuroLeague should come back to the previous system. The operative feels that leagues are underrepresented in the organization and have to compete with the EuroLeague for the same things.

Credit: Twitter/Sport et Citoyenneté Credit Twitter/Sport et Citoyenneté

The confrontation between FIBA and the EuroLeague has been going on for multiple years now with neither side willing to back down in the negotiations. Former player and the president of the Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB), Tomas Van Den Spiegel, has a strong opinion regarding the matter.

Thomas Van Den Spiegel

Position:CAge:44Height:214 cmWeight:114 kgBirth place:Ghent, BelgiumProfileNewsStatistics

"We need this to end. We need to go back to the integrated model because the EuroLeague is killing basketball at a European level and it's not going anywhere," he said during the Sports & Citizenship event organized by LaLiga in Brussels. "It's a very harsh but true conclusion, we need it to end."

Later during the event, the ULEB operative named the reasons behind the statement.

"The EuroLeague has become fully controlled by the clubs in recent years. We still have the majority of the shareholders but due to the organization of the competition, we have no voice or representation," Van Den Spiegel explained. "It is killing our national leagues, roots, and investments. We have been in dispute with the ECA, which is the body that controls the Euroleague, since 2020."

"We have to compete with the EuroLeague in commercial rights because we share the same cake. We lose broadcasting rights and ticketing," Van Der Spiegel told. "It is also difficult to compete because there are clubs that make domestic competitions compatible with the EuroLeague for their interests."

ULEB currently has 12 members of the organization. Headlined by the Spanish ACB, it features German BBL, Italian Serie A, Israeli Winner League, Lithuanian LKL, French LNB, and the Greek League, with Polish, Finnish, Swiss, and Belgian-Dutch leagues joining in as well.

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.