By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague Basketball announced that the Disciplinary Judge ruled that Zenit St. Petersburg lost the Round 3 and 4 games vs. Baskonia and Valencia by 0-20. They are the first games of the 2020-2021 season that are not being held due to a team having multiple players who tested positive for COVID-19.
Zenit has eight players down with COVID-19 and didn’t travel to Spain for the games since it couldn’t register an 8-man squad. According to EuroLeague’s coronavirus protocols, a team that can’t have an 8-man roster for coronavirus-related reasons will be losing the match by 0-20.
The Russian club’s reaction on twitter was the Latin saying “Dura Lex, sed Lex”, meaning “strict law, but the law”.
Per EuroLeague Basketball:
The Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Judge has declared that Zenit St. Petersburg loses by the result of zero to twenty (0-20) its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 3 and 4 games against TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Valencia Basket, which were scheduled to be played on October 13 and 15, respectively.
The Disciplinary Judge has followed the 2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Special Regulations due to COVID-19 after Zenit St. Petersburg didn’t have at least eight players on the Authorisation List fit to play as a consequence of multiple players having tested positive for COVID-19.