By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas shut down the rumors regarding a potential expansion of the competition in the 2024-25 season, mentioning that the organization doesn’t have such plans.
“We’re not going for an expansion right now. We’re not thinking about it for next season,” Motiejunas said in an interview for Turkish network S Sport confirming Eurohoops’ report on the matter.
“Obviously, London and Paris are key markets. We’ve always been talking about it, that it’s a great opportunity for EuroLeague to step in there. But we think it’s not mature yet.”
The London Lions and Paris Basketball can gain a spot in the 2024-25 EuroLeague if they win the EuroCup championship. The runner-up, theoretically, is also expected to get a EuroLeague ticket.
“I’m really happy that both markets have teams in EuroCup and that’s the first step to play in EuroLeague,” Motiejunas commented.
“The media saying that Paris is a wildcard owner for next season’s EuroLeague… that’s not true. If they win the EuroCup they can be in the EuroLeague obviously. But at the moment, it’s false information. We analyze the market, we watch how the teams are performing and we support them to play in EuroCup as we do for other teams. We love this competition but the talks about the wild card aren’t true.”
“There are no plans for expansion next season,” Motiejunas said, adding that if there is an expansion, there won’t be any format change. “The key to success in EuroLeague is the system, so we’re not planning to change it.”
Meanwhile the EuroLeague CEO also repeated that there are talks with Dubai, but also in this case, nothing is expected to change next season.