By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
AEK Athens is the favorite among the Basketball Champions League Final Four teams to host this season’s edition of the tournament.
Each year the Final Four takes place in one of the home cities of the teams that punched a ticket to the Top 4. Last season it was champion-to-be Iberostar Tenerife which hosted the festivities and now AEK appears to have the upper hand over MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (Germany), Murcia (Spain) and Monaco (France).
Hosting the Final Four has been a priority of AEK president Makis Aggelopoulos this year since he wants to see his team competing for the trophy at its home court, the famous “OAKA Arena” of Maroussi, Athens.
The management of AEK have every right to feel confident about their bid. OAKA is one of the largest, most state-of-the-art arenas in Europe, able to accommodate around 18.000 spectators. None of the other three teams can present an equally appealing case to BCL.
Furthermore, during the first quarterfinal against Strasbourg, AEK was responsible for breaking the BCL attendance record with around 12.000 of the team’s fans gathering at OAKA. This number demonstrated that the arena could easily get packed by AEK fans alone if the Final Four was played there. After all, we are talking about the third most popular team in Athens and Greece in general, after powerhouses Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
Basketball Champions League will announce the 2018 Final Four host on Thursday (5/4).