EuroLeague CEO on Dubai: The risk is not Dubai. The risk is that there are teams spending too much

The CEO of EuroLeague, Paulius Motiejunas, gave an extensive interview to BasketNews Talks. Here are his statements:

ON A LONG-TERM LICENSE FOR PARTIZAN AND RED STAR

“This is the toughest part of being the CEO of EuroLeague. It’s impossible to make everyone happy. It’s impossible to involve all the best places in our basketball. And Belgrade is one of the best places, obviously. But we have to have numbers behind it and look at all the other clubs and growing markets (…) It has to be sustainable, long-term, something that grows the market and the entire league, not just a region.”

ON VIRTUS BOLOGNA

“Look at Virtus, which has fans and results. Look at Monaco. They have great sporting results. There are many teams that, in my opinion, deserve to be part of the league. We can’t close the door to anyone. That’s the difficult part. You can’t have everyone. You can’t please everyone. But we have to see what criteria we create to leave the door open to anyone.”

ON DUBAI

“It’s difficult to set the schedule and timing. It’s a completely new market. I always say discussions are ongoing. We’re taking small steps forward. But when can we say the deal is done and we’re ready to go? We don’t know. It can be fast, it can be slow. The process is ongoing and promising because when I talk about two parties, one part is that we can open a completely new market, a new sphere that is very encouraging and motivating to look at. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do it, but it’s worth analyzing.”

“The percentage? 50/50? I don’t want to commit, and I don’t want people to take it for granted, saying it’s 50/50 and thinking there’s a great chance of playing next year.”

ON THE DUBAI RISK

“We are fully aware of the risks. The risk is not Dubai. The risk is that there are teams spending too much. I keep saying we have to be sustainable. We have to spend what we earn. We can’t waste money and throw it out the window just to get sporting results. This is what we talked about with the clubs. We all have to be on the same page. Dubai, if they come, won’t change things. Because the problem still exists, and we have to solve it with or without them. That’s what we’re working on.”

ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

“The Fair Play regulation has been implemented, and we continue to decrease the contributions owners can give. We’re not talking about the salary cap but something similar to controlling how much clubs spend on players. Steps have already been taken, and there’s no connection with Dubai. It has to be done one way or another, whether they are in or out.”