Premier basketball league in Europe cancels rest of season
While the NBA continued to plot its return to action amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Europe’s top basketball league on Monday cancelled the remainder of its season.
“Without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we have had to take in our 20-year history,” Euroleague president & CEO Jordi Bertomeu said in a statement after the league’s executive board met remotely for the fourth time since the season was suspended March 12.
“Due to reasons beyond our control, we have been forced to cut short the most successful and exciting season in European basketball history.”
Bertomeu said the league’s stakeholders “exhausted every possible avenue” in an attempt to return after play was suspended with two games remaining in the regular season, but ultimately decided that it was unfeasible to do so while also ensuring the health and safety of the league’s athletes, fans and staff. League officials also cancelled the final rounds of the 24-team Eurocup tournament.
The Euroleague features 18 teams from 10 European countries, some of which have been hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic than others. Differing travel restrictions and stay-athome orders throughout Europe presented additional logistical hurdles to resuming play, as some teams may have been prevented from practicing in their home countries or travelling for road games.
Anadolu Efes, which is based in Istanbul, was a league-best 24-4 when the season was suspended indefinitely. CSKA Moscow, the defending Euroleague champions, sat tied for fourth place with a 19-9 record.
League officials announced they will not crown a champion this season.
The 2020-21 campaign is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 with the same 18 teams, and the league said training camps will be extended to “allow players to recover their physical and mental shape” before the start of the regular season.
“Obviously, we had many motivations to resume the 2019-20 season, but in such an exceptional situation, we have to put people’s health first and ahead of any other interest: our players, our coaches, our referees, our clubs, their staff, our league staff, our broadcasters, and all of their families,” Bertomeu said.
“By doing so, we stay true to our beliefs and what we stand for.”
The NBA, which suspended its season March 11, on Saturday announced that it was targeting late July to resume games. In a statement, the league said it had begun “exploratory conversations” with the Walt Disney Co. to host a single-site campus for games, practices and housing for players and staffers at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando. The Washington Post