By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
While the NBA Europe project is gearing up, Carolina Morace, a member of the European Parliament, submitted a parliamentary question that directly concerns the issue.
Moraca, one of the most iconic Italian footballers and also a longtime sports commentator in her country, directly tackles the issue.
The title of the question is “Risks to the European sport model posed by the proposed ‘NBA Europe’ project,” and it’s the following:
The proposed ‘NBA Europe’, promoted by the US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) together with Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA), would establish a closed league in Europe with permanent franchises and external corporate control. Such a structure risks undermining the European sport model, which is grounded in solidarity, community participation, youth development and equality, as enshrined in Articles 6 and 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union[1] and in Parliament’s resolution on the European sport model.
This initiative could lead to the extraction of fiscal and economic value outside the EU, threaten the sustainability of grassroots and junior systems, marginalise women’s sport by prioritising commercial profitability over equality goals, and weaken the governance role of European federations in favour of a foreign entertainment corporation.
1. Does the Commission consider that ‘NBA Europe’ could amount to a monopolistic structure incompatible with EU competition and cohesion objectives?
2. How does the Commission intend to prevent the fiscal, social and governance extraction of value generated by European sport to non-EU entities?
3. Will the Commission assess whether ‘NBA Europe’ is compatible with the EU’s commitments to equality, solidarity, and the protection of cultural and sporting diversity across the Member States?
It has to be noted that in the past, similar arguments were used by FIBA against the EuroLeague, which is also a private league; however, the fact that the NBA is a non-EU entity adds more to the equation.
Meanwhile, the EuroLeague management had a meeting with the Greek minister of sports, Giannis Vroutsis, getting the support of the Greek government, as the country will also host the upcoming EuroLeague Final Four.
This also comes on the heels of the announcement made by the President of Lithuania towards the NBA Europe project.