By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
FC Barcelona decided to sign a new ten-year license to extend participation in the EuroLeague, according to Eurohoops sources.
The Catalonia giant informed remaining Euroleague Basketball shareholders on the team plan during a meeting on Tuesday.
Following a formal decision by Barca’s governing Board of Directors, the process is expected to be completed by the end of January.
Barcelona, among the founding members, previously revealed intentions to pen a new long-term license with Euroleague Basketball, with president Joan Laporta sharing the club’s roadmap and a possible impact of the partnership between the NBA and FIBA, widely labeled as NBA Europe.
However, there’s no extra opt-out clause included in the deal, as Laporta initially wanted.
Fenerbahce Beko is requesting a prolongation beyond Friday’s deadline to decide between Euroleague Basketball and NBA Europe due to their current management situation, with president Sadettin Saran under judicial condition after being detained on suspicion of supplying narcotics, facilitating drug use, and personal drug use on December 25. The 61-year-old executive may be forced to resign. Fener will hold an extraordinary company congress to address the issue at the end of the football season in Turkiye.
Uncertainty among Euroleague Basketball members extends to Real Madrid. However, Barca staying on board is obviously a positive for Euroleague Basketball to start the ongoing remote meeting amid projections for a clash with NBA Europe.
Except for LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, with the French club on the way to exiting Euroleague Basketball competitions, the rest of the shareholders have already committed to new long-term licenses in recent months.