EHCB director wants Russian teams back, opposes Western Europe expansion / News - Basketnews.com

EuroLeague Head Coaches Board executive director Goran Sasic wants Russian clubs to return and sees no point in having EuroLeague teams in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Credit: EuroLeague Coaches Association Credit EuroLeague Coaches Association

Russia was excluded from the international stage when Vladimir Putin's army invaded Ukraine in March 2022. Since then, their bodies have been lobbying for the country to be admitted again.

EuroLeague Head Coaches Board (EHCB) executive director Goran Sasic recently visited Saint Petersburg and talked about the fact that the return of Russian clubs to the EuroLeague could still take quite a while.

"I am not so pessimistic. A similar case has already happened in history. In the mid-1990s, Yugoslavia was subject to sports sanctions for a period of three years (1992-1995). In my opinion, the sports sanctions against Russia will also last for three years. This is my prediction," he told Izvestia.

"Again, I am not a politician. I am not the president of the country to decide this. But I think we should all just watch what UEFA is doing. As soon as we see that UEFA is moving towards the return of Russian clubs and national teams, it will cause a domino effect of all kinds," Sasic said.

"I hope that the EuroLeague, as a private company, will become one of the first European organizations to once again include Russian teams among its members."

During his tour in Russia, Sasic explained to Sport-Express why he prefers expansion towards the Arab market rather than towards Western Europe.

“I have never understood why the EuroLeague seeks to expand the presence of clubs from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom," he said,

"I think we should focus on the pillars of basketball. Red Star, Partizan, Valencia and Virtus would be more deserving of the A license than the clubs from those three countries. In addition, more teams from Lithuania, Russia, Greece and Turkey deserve to be EuroLeague shareholders, and a second team from Israel deserves to be a shareholder much more than France, Germany, or Great Britain.”

The Serbian executive pointed out that the EuroLeague's payoff from TV contracts in Germany and France has been minimal.

“Do you know how much the Euroleague received from a television contract with Germany over ten years? Zero euros. We entered the French market, but the situation there was even worse. The organization itself had to pay extra for the competition to be broadcast on French television. And we're talking millions of euros.

On the other hand, there are television contracts with Greece, Israel or Turkey, where the organization's revenues are around 10 million euros per transaction. Therefore, I would focus on countries willing to pay a lot of money for content, rather than Germany with zero income or France, for which you also have to pay extra," he argued.

Sasic expressed support for the Dubai project, which he thinks will increase the number of television contracts and sponsors, and clubs will start receiving significant prize money.

"It is not by chance that many matches of the best European football clubs now take place in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar," he stressed.

"They believe that it's a good opportunity for everyone. And given that football generates much higher revenue, it makes sense that basketball would follow the same path. This is why I say I raise both hands for the Dubai project.

Of course, I would be happy if it happened next season, but it's also not the end of the world if it happens in two years."

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