Paulius Motiejunas breaks down Maccabi's move to Belgrade / News - Basketnews.com

Euroleague Basketball CEO Paulius Motiejunas talked about the decision to allow Maccabi to use the Aleksandar Nikolic Arena in Belgrade as their home court for the season. He also referred to the pros and cons of that move.

Credit: Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

In the wake of the EuroLeague shareholders' decision to allow Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to play their next EuroLeague games in Belgrade, the league's CEO Paulius Motiejunas spoke to S Sport about the process.

The 13 clubs holding the A license, which guarantees their place in the EuroLeague for ten years, participated in the discussion that was held in Istanbul. The Israeli club was represented by the owners David and Danny Federman, in addition to the chairman Shimon Mizrahi who joined the discussion from Tel Aviv.

According toArale Weisberg from Walla Sports, the board meeting, which lasted more than five hours, dealt with a variety of topics. Per the same report, one scenario had the shareholders seriously considering casting Maccabi out of the competition.

The belligerent line was led by the Spanish representatives - Barcelona, ​​Baskonia and Real Madrid, Weisberg reports. They were also joined by the two Turkish teams, Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes. The argument was not political or against Israel's policy, but rather focused on safety reasons and the increased cost of hosting the games.

"Everything's okay," Motiejunas assured.

"All the clubs are aligned on how we want the competition to go. We found a way out and Maccabi will continue to play. The decision-making process is easy, but the issue is difficult. They have different realities and circumstances in each country," the Euroleague Basketball CEO explained.

"But Maccabi came with the proposal to have a neutral place in Serbia and everybody approved of it. Now, we're working on transportation, hotels and security to make it safe and get it under control. The important thing is that games will keep being played and Maccabi will keep playing."

The Lithuanian executive praised the Serbian government and the city of Belgrade for their willingness to stand by Partizan's wish to host the Israeli side.

"I know that the municipality's involved," he said. "I'm pretty sure that a letter from the club helped and opened doors. There were obviously other options as well. Different countries were willing to help. But Maccabi were in talks and found the best option," he argued.

"Maccabi now have a house, where they can play. It's difficult to talk about the whole season. I wish they'd stay there for the rest of the season, but we'll take it step by step and keep monitoring the situation," he further added.

Motiejunas clarified that in case all parties involved think it's safe for Maccabi toget back to Tel Aviv, that will happen.

"If, unfortunately, things go the other way, we'll re-evaluate the situation. There's no way we can solve the situation for the whole season because of uncertainty," he said.

Finally, Motiejunas confirmed that Maccabi will take on the cost of moving to Belgrade and hosting their games in the Serbian capital.

"It mostly goes to the club. They lose the ticket sales for the home arena. Season ticket holders are disappointed. It's unfortunate but they said they're willing to take the expenses," he concluded.

Full interview:

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