Reactions in Baltics: federations terminate cooperation with Russia, while Kalev/Cramo expected to leave VTB / News - Basketnews.com

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The Baltic countries actively reacted to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many basketball decisions were made, following Russia's aggression.

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80%10,9Points made:10,9Accuracy:80,4%Place in standings:15Record max:20Record min:4Most made FTs:Lukas LekavičiusTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

The President of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, Vydas Gedvilas, publicly circulated a message sent to federation members. It urges Lithuanian basketball organizations to break all scheduled contacts with Russian and Belarus sports subjects.

"The military action that has begun in Ukraine is becoming a test for the whole democratic world. At present, our unity is needed in Lithuania and in the whole world.

On behalf of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, taking into account Russia's military actions in Ukraine, we recommend you terminate all sports contacts with Russian and Belarusian sports entities in the near future.

Thanks to united actions, we will help the neighboring country to fight the aggressor," Gedvilas wrote.

The Latvian Basketball Federation followed Lithuania's path and suspended cooperation with Russian basketball organizations as well.

Meanwhile, Zalgiris Kaunas, the strongest basketball club in the Baltic region, organized a discussion with the EuroLeague board to evaluate the current situation to agree on further actions.

"Zalgiris Kaunas do not ignore the events in Ukraine and organize a conversation with the EuroLeague management in order to jointly assess the situation and agree on further actions," Zalgiris reported.

"We are already discussing this issue with several EuroLeague clubs and we will all be looking at this situation at league level. In this case, the united decision of the league is necessary."

Moreover, the Estonian powerhouse BC Kalev/Cramo is expected to leave the VTB United League.

According to the board of Kalev/Cramo, they will meet again to discuss the events that are taking place in Ukraine.

The Kalev/Cramo general manager Ramo Kask told Delfi that the decision on whether or not to continue in the VTB United League will most likely be announced on Friday.

Another club from Lithuania, BC Siauliai, canceled their home game versus Enisey Krasnoyarsk in the North European Basketball League (NEBL).

"We strongly condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine, so this morning, we discussed the situation with the club's stakeholders and the city mayor. At the same time, we addressed the league itself, the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, and hoped to receive instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on how to proceed in this situation, but we could not wait longer and took decisions immediately.

The message of the city mayor and the club stakeholders is short – we cannot organize and play the matches in any way, they are canceled," reported Siauliai.

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