By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Team-shareholder CSKA has taken legal action in connection to the decision of Euroleague Basketball to withdraw its participation from the 2022-23 edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
“CSKA, indeed, appealed to the court of Luxembourg, where the company ECA, which manages the Euroleague, is registered,” explained team president Andrey Vatutin, “We challenge the decision of its Board of Directors to remove our club from the tournament, despite the status of a shareholder and holder of an “A” license.”
“We believe that the decision was made with no legal grounds,” he reiterated.
The Moscow outfit is not hoping to finally be granted participation in the upcoming season of Europe’s premier club continental competition. But legal assessment is important, as noted by Vatutin.
“We have no illusions about the hypothetical participation in the next season, also because the court’s decision will take some time. It is important for us to get a legal assessment, whatever it might be,” he said, “Euroleague is a commercial tournament, the fact that we are not in it deprives us of a significant part of our income. In fact, we are deprived of the opportunity to receive income from a business in the creation and management of which we were directly involved.”
Confirming an earlier report of Greek outlet Gazzetta, Vatutin discussed filing the complaint and awaiting the verdict from the Luxembourg court to consider potential future legal actions.
Euroleague Basketball opted to remove all Russian teams from the 2021-22 editions of both EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup in the aftermath of the country’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war. Furthermore, all Russian teams including CSKA were excluded from the 2022-23 editions of both competitions.
“We need to see how the decision will be formalized legally,” commented Vatutin on the latter decision in June, “After that, together with lawyers, we will make a decision. The issue of depriving CSKA of Euroleague shares was not discussed, we intend to continue to be shareholders of the tournament.”
Euroleague Basketball since regulating competitions bylaws clarified CSKA retaining the vote in Euroleague Commercial Assets Shareholders meetings.