By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Spanish Association of Professional Basketball Players (ABP) issued an announcement regarding the upcoming changes in EuroLeague that will take place from the 2021-2022 season.
EuroLeague announced that starting from 2021-2022, there will be three annual wild cards plus one extra license that will go to the EuroCup finalist. The rest of the spots in the competition will be filled by the 11 clubs with A license plus, the EuroCup champion, plus two associated Wild Cards (currently owned by Bayern Munich, ASVEL Villeurbanne). You can read the new allocating criteria here.
The announcement by ABP is as follows:
“The essence of the sport is rising above. The goal of any athlete is to improve and reach higher levels. EuroLeague doesn’t feel committed to the Olympic motto “citius, altius, fortius”. Nothing matters, not the sporting merits, the daily effort, the desire to improve the players and clubs. What kind of sports motivation will they have to be to better/ The EuroLeague lives with its back against this reality; Players, fans, and clubs want the sport to remain sport. Looking at this is essential to have an attractive competition.
But the drama goes further. What legal security does an organization offer that changes its access criteria to its whim every year? In the era of transparency, EuroLeague doesn’t feel committed to this concept either. The rules of the game, in addition to not being the same for everyone, are random every year.”
The ABP is completely against these decisions that harm the national competitions and weaken the players. “
The Spanish ACB League and ULEB have also been critical of EuroLeague’s new allocating system.