Ioannis Sfairopoulos on current schedule: 'It's against the sport itself' / News - Basketnews.com

Ioannis Sfairopoulos reiterated that both FIBA and the EuroLeague need to work out a solution for an international schedule and called the current situation to be against the sport itself.

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Since being let go by Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv last season, Ioannis Sfairopoulos has been a free agent. Now, the Greek specialist is the vice president of the EuroLeague Head Coaches Board.

With the president of the organization, Dimitris Itoudis, taking a stand against the complicated international schedule amidst the FIBA-EuroLeague conflict, Sfairopoulos has decided to address the issue on his Twitter account as well.

"The situation around European basketball in recent years needs to change now. EuroLeague games coincide with national teams' ones, players and coaches compete in one of the two or in both competitions, with an enormous toll on their physical and mental integrity," the coach wrote.

"A situation that's against the sport itself. EuroLeague and FIBA need to sit at the same table, willing to work out a solution. We need a unified calendar including Euroleague and national teams’ games, national leagues, and also time for rest and recovery for everyone involved," he explained.

Although he did not want to emphasize the difficulty he faced having only 9 players yesterday, the legendary Zeljko Obradovic addressed the issue as well.

"The only ones that pay the price are the players. It's more difficult for them than for any other person," he said.

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