By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Even in the 11th hour, the official announcement about Dubai entering the EuroLeague tournaments was postponed, however, nothing changed the big picture.
Dubai and the EuroLeague are preparing for the officialization of the deal and the main reason that this didn’t happen as expected this week, was the delay in ABA League’s decision to include Dubai in their league.
The EuroLeague shareholders also want Dubai to compete in any regional league, not necessarily in the ABA League. However, the ABA League is the main candidate to include them, and on Tuesday the ABA League assembly will again discuss the issue.
The issue is the fee that Dubai has to pay to enter the league, which was proposed to be 1,5M euros per season. The ABA League wanted more, Dubai doesn’t seem eager to present a new offer and it remains to be seen if there will be a deal. Chances are that Dubai will enter the ABA League after all, however, the Arabs are also examining other options. After all, what the EuroLeague asked from Dubai was to compete in a regional league no matter which league this may be.
That’s why the presence of Dubai in any regional league will not affect the status of qualification in the EuroLeague competitions of the local teams. Dubai is considered a special case and for example, will not take the spot of another ABA League team in continental competitions.
The Abu Dhabi case
Among the issues discussed by the EuroLeague general assembly was also the offer from Abu Dhabi to host three Final Fours paying a total of 75M euros.
This is a proposal not connected in any way with the Dubai case and while the numbers on paper seem great, the EuroLeague shareholders are skeptical about a possible deal.
After the experience of the London Final Four where locals weren’t interested in the event and ended up being played in a half-empty arena, it’s not an easy decision to take a similar gamble in Abu Dhabi no matter the financial return.
That’s why in the official announcement after the assembly an intentionally vague paragraph was added: “The ECA Board of Directors also reviewed the current state of the business, as well as discussing opportunities ahead, and were updated on the different conversations regarding collaboration possibilities in new markets to continue building on the success delivered during the last 24 years and bringing the Euroleague Basketball to new heights.”