EuroLeague CEO confident new financial controls will be approved / News - Basketnews.com

Paulius Motiejunas emphasized that EuroLeague has no plans to alter its successful round-robin format, while discussing the introduction of Fair Play Regulations aimed at controlling spending on players to ensure competitive fairness, emphasizing it as a unique system distinct from the NBA's salary cap.

Credit: Teodoras Biliūnas/BNS Credit Teodoras Biliūnas/BNS

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas recently sat down for an interview with S Sport, where he provided insights into the league's format and the introduction of Fair Play Regulations improvements.

As previously mentioned, Motiejunas has confirmed that there are no expansion plans for the 2024-25 season. However, looking ahead, if there are any considerations for team increase in the future, the existing round-robin system is expected to remain in place.

Motiejunas made it clear that the EuroLeague has no intentions to alter its current format, emphasizing the success of the present system in fostering league growth.

"We love the format. The round-robin system was a great accelerator for the league to grow when we changed it," he underlined. "And when we talk with the clubs, all of us agree that we will not go back to different groups playing different teams. Everybody wants to play everybody, and I think this system is the key to success for the EuroLeague. We are not planning to change it."

Addressing the issue of financial sustainability and potential salary cap opening, Motiejunas discussed the introduction of Fair Play Regulations modifications, a system designed to control spending on players.

He highlighted the aim to balance financial responsibility and competitive fairness.

"We are talking about Fair Play Regulations. It's a different name and different structure [from salary cap]. Of course, it's more about control of spending money on the players, but again, this is what the league has been doing for the last 10 years," Motiejunas stressed.

"We are trying to control how much the owners and the ownership spend; we are trying to put that number down, and again, the key is to make the clubs sustainable. We want to have a business side in the clubs, and then the league is stronger if everybody is spending as much as they are making and, you know, not burning cash like we keep saying," the executive continued.

"I think this is one of the key stepping stones for us to get the clubs involved. We have done a couple of rounds of talking and explaining the system. The system is already created, so I think it's only a matter of time before it will be approved. Again, it will take time for it to work in the perfect sequence and to get the control that we want, but I think it's inevitable, and we will approve it. And the clubs are for it," he stressed.

The CEO then clarified that this initiative is not a direct replication of the NBA's salary cap system. Instead, it involves a unique set of regulations to curb excessive spending on players.

"It's Fair Play Regulations. It's going to be different. The key is to control the spending and to put a cap on how much money the clubs spend on the players. It's not an easy process, but once it's implemented, it's easy to control. It involves star players and young players," he said.

"There's a cap, and there's a different regulation, so it's not a copy-past from the NBA. You cannot copy-paste the NBA. But it's something that our staff did a great job with to the regulations. We ran it through the clubs, as I said, and we managed to find, I would say, a middle ground where the clubs are happy, and we are achieving what we want."

EuroLeague plans no expansion for 2024-25 season

URBONUS podcast:

Full interview with S Sport:

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