By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
FIBA changed its scheduling of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Europe for November. However, while this move can be considered by FIBA’s side as a gesture of goodwill in the effort to accommodate everyone, practically the long-term solution for the scheduling conflict needs a different and more drastic approach.
And for this approach to work, it needs first and foremost the input of the players. After the news broke out today by Eurohoops, a number of EuroLeague players have expressed to Eurohoops their surprise, since practically for them nothing really changes with the decision of FIBA to play games only on Friday, while EuroLeague has also scheduled games on the same Friday the 11th of November and on Thursday, the 10th of November.
On the contrary, a number of those players if they also want to help their national team, may end up being forced to play two back-to-back games for two different competitions with two different teams and in some cases in two different countries with less than 24 hours to rehabilitate and maybe travel. Of course, practice is out of the question under these time limitations.
So while FIBA is making a move that can be considered a step forward on a “political” level, the big issues of scheduling, protecting the players, and ultimately protecting the game itself remain pretty much the same.
It has also to be noted that there’s no indication so far that EuroLeague and most of the clubs are in favor of a change in their scheduling, so there’s no response yet to FIBA’s initiative.
The good news is that there are talks and it seems at this point that many – if not everyone – understand that the common interest demands a resolution to the whole scheduling conflict. However, we are still far from the end of the road.