By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano will be the only Italian team next season in Euroleague. Despite the announcement made by FIBA, the “Red Shoes” have already signed with the Euroleague and both the Italian Federation (FIP) and FIBA know this.
According to FIBA, Italian and French teams “will participate only in competitions organised jointly by FIBA and Domestic Leagues”, meaning not in the Euroleague and the Eurocup. However, the position of Milano is well known both to the Italian basketball federation and directly to FIBA. The secretary general Patrick Baumann has recently met with Milano’s president Livio Proli in Rome for this matter and he knows that the club decided to sign for the next 10 seasons with Euroleague.
Both the Italian federation and FIBA have accepted this decision, so EA7 Emporio Armani Milano will be the exception from Italy.