EuroLeague shareholders will meet to decide Russian team's future, possible replacements / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

The EuroLeague boards is expected to meet next Thursday (June 16) in order to make decisions regarding the competition's future.

ECA shareholders will be called upon to vote on a range of issues which will have an immediate effect. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine being ongoing, the future of Russian teams looks uncertain. In any case, CSKA Moscow are still in the group of the 13 shareholders with a right to the voting procedure and a vested interest in any development.

It is difficult to say whether everything will be completed in one day, because it is certain that the Russian reps will raise objections and their status should be decided first. Only if CSKA and Zenit are officially suspended - or some other formulation will be used - will two vacancies remain in the elite European competition.

According to all previous hints, those two places could be taken by Partizan and Valencia Basket, the only clubs that have submitted a request for wild cards. But the necessary condition is that Russians be expelled and that the number of competitors be kept at 18.

At this point,16 of the 18 participants in the upcoming Euroleague season are already known. The teams guaranteed a place for the 2022/23 season are:

* Spain: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bitci ​​Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

* Turkey: Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Fenerbahce Istanbul

* Greece: Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens

* Germany: Bayern Munich, ALBA Berlin

* France: AS Monaco, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne

* AX Armani Exchange Milan, Virtus Segafredo Bologna (via the EuroCup)

* Israel: Maccabi Tel Aviv

* Lithuania: Zalgiris Kaunas

* Adriatic League: Crvena Zvezda Belgrade

According to EuroLeague rules, the two EuroCup finalists are allowed to enter the EuroLeague for one season, but since Monaco reached the playoffs, the 2021 EuroCup winners automatically secured their place in the next campaign at the expense of this year's finalists Bursaspor.

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