By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
The EuroLeague has fined Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and two other teams for exceeding the salary cap.
During yesterday’s meeting, the EuroLeague Board didn’t only decide to keep 20 teams for next season; the organizing body also announced the competitive balance compensation or “tax” for four teams—including the two Greek “eternal rivals”— according to the Financial Fair Play regulations.
As it was officially announced, the largest tax was imposed on Panathinaikos BC, amounting to 3,065,691€, as the Financial Fair Play limit was exceeded by €6.185 million. Anadolu Efes must pay €1,071,676 for exceeding the Base Remuneration Level limit by €1.8 million, while Hapoel Tel Aviv received a 998,027€ tax for going €1.66 million over. The fourth team penalized was Olympiacos, which was taxed 303,290€ after exceeding the limit by €600,000, following the activation of Mustafa Fall’s contract.
Essentially, these amounts function as the European version of the “luxury tax” used in the NBA and will be distributed among the league’s teams that did not exceed the limits, with the exception of ASVEL, which did the opposite and spent less than required.
Euroleague’s official statement: “The 2025–26 campaign marks the first season in which the Competitive Balance Standards have been progressively implemented, ahead of their full implementation starting with the 2027–28 season. Following the closure of the players registration period on February 25, Euroleague Basketball conducted a full evaluation of each participating team’s compliance with the established remuneration thresholds. These include the Low Remuneration Level and the Base Remuneration Level, which define the minimum mandatory expenditure on players and the baseline level of player remuneration spending. The High Remuneration Level will become effective beginning with the 2027–28 season. The Competitive Balance Compensation is a financial mechanism designed to equally redistribute funds collected from clubs exceeding the Base and High Remuneration Levels among the clubs that remain within the established thresholds. As a transitional measure toward the full implementation of the Competitive Balance Standards, financial compensations for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 seasons are capped at a maximum of 10% of total player remuneration.
The total compensation for exceeding the Base Remuneration Level, amounting to €5,438,684, will be distributed equally among the 15 clubs that comply with the established levels, resulting in €362,579 per club. Additionally, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne did not reach the Low Remuneration Level established under the Competitive Balance Standards for Regular Season Round 29. As the club had previously not fulfilled the Low Remuneration Level for EuroLeague Regular Season Round 1, it will be required to distribute among the registered players a total amount of €1,280,924, corresponding to the delta between the registered players’ remunerations for the season and the Low Remuneration Level established for the 2025-26 season. Furthermore, the club has been sanctioned by the Finance Panel due to overdue payables related to the unfulfillment of the Low Remuneration Level for Round 1 and the distribution of the corresponding delta to the registered players, as well as not providing the required documentation. The club has been sanctioned with a fine of €25,000 and a ban on registering players and coaches until the overdue payables are settled.”
Panathinaikos requested to ommit the tax rules for this season and asked for a two-season postponement. A vote was held, and the request was rejected, as the other 12 teams voted against the proposal.
The club then submitted a new request to be allowed to pay the tax in installments rather, a request that will be reviewed at a future meeting of the EuroLeague shareholders.