By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
With the 2025-26 EuroLeague Regular Season starting on Tuesday, a preseason press conference was held in Dubai on Monday.
Questions toward the CEO of Euroleague Basketball, Paulius Motiejunas, included how the United Nations recently deeming Israel’s actions against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as genocide can lead to the suspension of Israeli teams.
“Politics should not be involved in sports and especially basketball, but we are following the situation,” he answered.
“We are going to keep watching, monitor this situation, and react accordingly,” Motiejunas said about following a possible decision by UEFA to disqualify Israeli teams from continental competitions.
“It is not that one will have to make a decision and we follow immediately, but as soon as other sports organizations start to react, or even if UEFA reacts, we will talk to the clubs,” he further explained, “The most important thing is obviously the safety of the team, the players, and the fans.”
The current participating field for the next editions of Euroleague Basketball competitions features Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv and Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague, and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem in the BKT EuroCup. Meanwhile, Trapani Shark intends to request the removal of Israeli sides from the Basketball Champions League.
Opening #EuroLeague season press conference in Dubai! Indeed, a new era pic.twitter.com/HGEBdzjDDR
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 29, 2025
Earlier, Motiejunas welcomed Dubai to the league, sharing a timeline on the addition of a team from the Middle East.
“When we talked about expansion, we want to bring this passion to other markets, and Dubai is a good example that we can have this passion because of the many international people here who don’t get the chance to see Euroleague when they come to live here,” said the Lithuanian executive.
“I would never imagine it to happen in 2025 that they have a team here,” he added on talks beginning in 2022, “This is Dubai. If they want something, they can achieve something, and, if they’re focused, they’ll get it done.”
“Nobody knows”
The Dubai CEO, Dejan Kamenjasevic, talked about his side facing a complicated travel schedule during the next season.
“We asked four different doctors. We asked them what we should do after the game. Do we go straight back home if that is the case, or wait, sleep there, and go in the morning? Two doctors said to go in the morning and two doctors to stay,” he explained, “That’s why I’m saying this because nobody knows.”
“Nobody knows what we can face on that stage. So we know that we are not ready for that, but we know that we will face this challenge every day, day-by-day,” he furthered, “That will be probably the biggest challenge, and we need to see how we can, let’s say, save our players and keep them safe and healthy.”