FIBA Europe 2019-20 club competitions will not resume, Board sets plan for 2020-21

The Board of FIBA Europe convened through video conference on Monday, June 15 and reached some important decisions.

The meeting was chaired by FIBA Europe President/FIBA Vice President Turgay Demirel and was attended by FIBA President Hamane Niang, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and FIBA Europe Secretary General/FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak.

FIBA EUROPE CLUB COMPETITIONS

Following strong recommendations by the working group that was set up to explore different options and supported by the FIBA Europe Competitions` Commission, the Board voted to cancel the current season of the three FIBA Europe club competitions which were initially suspended back in March.

The season 2019-20 in FIBA Europe Cup, EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women will not resume and there will be no champions. All clubs that were in the Quarter-Finals stage at the time the competition was suspended, will receive ranking points for reaching the Quarter-Finals as per Regulations.

The focus now shifts to preparations for the upcoming 2020-21 season and alternative action plans:

The new club competition season 2020-21 starts as scheduled in September/October with or without spectators, always according to local, national legislations.
In case that a competition cannot start in September/October it will be automatically postponed to January 2021, with a reduced competition system.
Should a competition that start September/October need to be interrupted due to a new outbreak of COVID-19, the already played games will be respected, and a new reduced/shorter competition system will be proposed.

The dates for the Draw for the new season have been provisionally set for August 17 and 18.

FIBA EUROBASKET AND WOMEN’S EUROBASKET QUALIFIERS

The Board was also presented with the recommendations and alternative plans by the working group and the Competitions’ Commission of FIBA Europe, regarding the upcoming windows of FIBA EuroBasket 2021 and FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers and a possible further impact by COVID-19.

For the Women’s Qualifiers windows in November 2020 and February 2021:

The November window will be played as scheduled with or without spectators or a limited number of spectators, always according to local, national legislations.
In case that the November window cannot be played it will be postponed to February 2021. In this case four games will be played in the February window which will last 15 days. It will start on Sunday, January 31 with game days on Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. Players will go back to their clubs on Sunday, February 14.

For the Men’s Qualifiers windows in November 2020 and February 2021:

The November window will be played as scheduled with or without spectators or a limited number of spectators, always according to local, national legislations.
In case that the November window cannot be played, the games of the November window shall be postponed to the February window and the games on the February window shall be postponed to July 2021, into a window which shall be scheduled between the end of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

FIBA WOMEN’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SMALL COUNTRIES

The Board approved a recommendation by the Small Countries Commission to play the FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries 2021 between June 15-20, 2021 in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played this summer.

The men’s event is set to take place in Limerick, Ireland, between June 28-July 3, 2021.

“BACK ON COURT” ROADMAP

The Board was given updates about the “Back On Court” post-COVID-19 roadmap initiative, which provides guidelines and an exchange platform to European National Federations before their return to action.

The second round of online meetings of FIBA Europe with the European Federations will take place in three groups (June 17, 22 and 24, 2020).