Belgrade was announced as the host city of the 2024 Basketball Champions League Final Four during a Draw ceremony that featured legendary Serbian figures of the sport, in the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball on Thursday.
The Final Four will get underway on April 26 with the two Semi-Finals, and the champion of the BCL’s 8th edition will be crowned on April 28 in the state-of-the-art Belgrade Arena.
The renowned multi-purpose venue has hosted some of the biggest sporting and cultural events in the Balkans over the last two decades.
It is the first ever time that the BCL season-ending tournament will take place in Serbia, a cradle of global basketball stars, and it follows the anniversary of 100 years since the introduction of basketball in the country.
FIBA Basketball World Cup and two-time FIBA EuroBasket champion Zeljko Rebraca accepted the role of Ambassador for the Belgrade Final Four.
Serbian Basketball Federation Secretary General Zlatko Bolic and FIBA Hall of Fame inductee Svetislav Pesic, the head coach of Serbia’s national team, joined Mr. Rebraca and BCL CEO Patrick Comninos on the stage.
“Belgrade is an iconic basketball city and obviously we received a lot of support for our endeavors from Aleksandar Vucic, the President of the Republic of Serbia. We thank him enormously and, since I know he is a basketball fan, we of course also invite him to the Final Four,” Mr. Comninos said.
“I would also like to thank Minister of Sports Zoran Gajic for his great support and of course our friends at the Serbian Basketball Federation, President Sasha Danilovic and Secretary General Zlatko Bolic, and last but not least Goran Grbovic, the executive director of the wonderful Belgrade Arena.”
“We are very excited to partner with this state-of-the-art venue and what we’re going to bring is a great event, a great show.
“The fans will have the chance to experience a fun BCL weekend in the arena, in the fan zone, in the city. And we hope we’ll have several surprises in store for them, as we always try to be innovative. I think in a few weeks we will be in a position to talk about the best ever Final Four, in Belgrade,” Mr. Comninos added.
“Every player can make their own story in these games and maybe change their career for ever,” said Mr. Rebraca.
“In 1992 [with Partizan Belgrade] we proved that even the underdogs have a chance. Basketball in Belgrade and in Serbia is a way of life, the atmosphere is electric and when you experience that kind of atmosphere it’s a lifetime experience.”
“For us the BCL Final Four in Belgrade is very important and we are proud to show that we live with basketball, we are a country of basketball. I hope that the teams who will come to Belgrade will feel right at home,” said Mr. Bolic.
Each of the eight clubs which is still in the race to conquer the trophy discovered the road that leads to Belgrade, by the hand of Mr. Pesic and FIBA EuroBasket 2001 champion Dragan Tarlac.
The pairings that emerged from the Quarter-Finals Draw are as follows:
Lenovo Tenerife (ESP) vs. Tofas Bursa (TUR)
Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER) vs. Peristeri bwin (GRE)
UCAM Murcia (ESP) vs. MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (GER)
Unicaja (ESP) vs. Promitheas Patras (GRE)
The Quarter-Finals will commence on April 2 and each series will be played in a best-of-three format, with teams that have the homecourt advantage playing the first game at home.
The winner of the Quarter-Final series between Lenovo Tenerife and Tofas Bursa will play the winner of the tie between Telekom Baskets Bonn and Peristeri bwin in the Semi-Finals. Meanwhile the winner of the series between UCAM Murcia and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg will face the winner of Unicaja vs. Promitheas Patras.
All details on tickets to the Final Four and the sales procedure will be announced by early April.
You can rewatch the Draw ceremony here:
✨ The #RoadtoBelgrade: 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝟖? 🏆#BasketballCL pic.twitter.com/kkgZ2ZKEiN
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) March 21, 2024
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