By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade president Ostoja Mihailovic is quite hopeful that the Serbian club will get a spot in the 2020-2021 EuroLeague season.
“Monday is a big day and I expect basketball to win. It’s a big challenge in front of the EuroLeague board. I believe that some results will be respected. I expect Partizan to be rewarded and get a place in the basketball elite,” Mihailovic said to the 60 Minutes show of MaxBet radio. Partizan had completed the EuroCup Top 16 with 5-1 wins/losses n Group A, a league-best record that would give them homecourt advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.
“It would be a gift to me because I’m celebrating my birthday on May 25,” Mihailovic added.
According to EuroLeague’s allocation criteria that were set long before the coronavirus crisis, each season’s ABA League champion would have a priority for one of the annual wild cards. Crvena Zvezda president Nebojsa Covic has mentioned that if the current EuroLeague season doesn’t continue, then the same teams will participate in the championship in 2020-2021.
The ABA assembly will hold a meeting regarding the potential resumption of the season this Wednesday (27/5). When the competition shut down on March 12, Partizan was at the top place in the standings, with one game remaining in the regular season.
“It all depends on Monday and if it’s decided to terminate the EuroLeague, we will see if it will make sense to continue the ABA League,” Mihailovic said. “If the season is canceled, then we would unnecessarily risk the health of players. From the beginning, we were in favor of ending the seasons in EuroCup and ABA League on the floor. This season, clubs with 4,000 fans are competing in EuroLeague and our attendance was much higher.”