Zalgiris face possible disqualification from EuroLeague if stance on Russian teams doesn't change / News - Basketnews.com

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If Zalgiris Kaunas' GM Paulius Motiejunas does not change his position, Lithuanian champions theoretically face significant fines and disqualification from Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule

Zalgiris Kaunas Real Madrid68-47 Panathinaikos Athens Zalgiris KaunasTue19:00 ALBA Berlin Zalgiris Kaunas03-0319:00

According to BasketNews sources, during the 18 teams meeting, the Lithuanian owner was the only one who suggested imposing more extensive sanctions on three Russian teams, CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, and UNICS Kazan.

However, he didn't receive support from the other 17 EuroLeague clubs.

The voting was tight, but clubs agreed to temporarily relocate all scheduled games on Russian soil to other venues outside Russian Federation territory until further notice.

According to BasketNews sources, Motiejunas claimed he wouldn't change his mind and was ready to accept all the consequences.

Zalgiris are scheduled to play CSKA on March 25 and Zenit on April 8.

According to EuroLeague laws Article 31.1., if a team unjustifiably fails to appear at a game or unjustifiably refuses to participate in a game, that team will be awarded an automatic loss of the game 0-20.

In addition to the automatic loss awarded under Article 31.1, the hearing body may also impose a fine from 100,000 euros to 200,000 euros.

In the case that an infringement of Article 31.1 is repeated (recidivism), the applicable sanction against the infringing club will be the disqualification from the Euroleague Basketball competitions for up to a maximum of three consecutive seasons, with the corresponding loss of rights, and the ancillary sanction imposed will be a fine from 200,001 euros up to 300,000 euros.

"As we said yesterday, our values aren't changing – we don't want to play with clubs from a country that is using military aggression and this is a position that we suggested to the EuroLeague and its clubs. However, the league and its clubs leaned towards a smooth finish of the season," Paulius Motiejunas quoted in an official release.

"We don’t want to play the aforementioned games, and we agree to take on the minimal sanctions – losses of 0:20. We will be talking to the league and clubs about this, but we cannot agree that the league would punish us with monetary fines or dismissal from the league," he added.

"Values are important to us, but we do not want to take away the EuroLeague from our team, from our fans, and from Lithuania, therefore we are not throwing ultimatums around and will continue discussions with the league and the club to find a united decision,” – noted Motiejunas.

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