MIES (Switzerland) – The city of Malaga, Spain has been awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 Final Four, the Basketball Champions League announced on Thursday. The eagerly anticipated event that will crown the 2022-23 BCL champion is set to take place on May 12-14.
Host club Unicaja, the reigning Spanish Copa del Rey champions, were the first team to secure a spot in this year’s Final Four after sweeping UCAM Murcia 2-0 in the Quarter-Finals and will compete in the showpiece event of the BCL for the first time in club history.
Germany’s Telekom Baskets Bonn, that prevailed 2-1 in their Quarter-Final series against SIG Strasbourg, and Israel’s Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, who defeated AEK 2-1, are also poised to make their maiden appearance at a BCL Final Four.
By contrast, the fourth title contender has enormous experience of BCL season-ending tournaments: Lenovo Tenerife, who eliminated BAXI Manresa 2-1 in the Quarter-Finals, are the defending BCL champions and also won the first ever edition of the competition, in 2016-17, while they reached the Final in 2018-19.
The two Semi-Final clashes will take place on Friday, May 12, with the Final and the Third-Place Game on Sunday, May 14.
The draw for the Final Four bracket will take place in the Costa del Sol capital on Tuesday, April 25, with information on ticket sales announced shortly after.
“In approaching potential participants to the Final Four with the opportunity to organize this year’s pinnacle event, we saw great enthusiasm from host candidates, a clear validation of the continuous growth and interest for this event. We received concrete commitment from a number of clubs, all providing excellent conditions for hosting the event,” commented BCL CEO Patrick Comninos.
“But ultimately, we chose Malaga as the destination that goes beyond guaranteeing that the 2023 BCL Final Four will be a successful event. We chose Malaga and Unicaja because the fans’ dedication, enthusiasm and convergence with their team has scaled new heights this season, especially after the conquest of the Copa del Rey.
“They convinced us that their energy will convert the 2023 Final Four into the sort of legacy event which leaves an inedible stamp on the city, the region and the local community.”
The venue of the season-ending tournament will be the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena, the largest indoor multi-purpose sports arena in southern Spain, which has a seating capacity of 11,300 and is the regular home court of host Unicaja.
The Martin Carpena arena has previously played host, among others, to three editions of the Copa del Rey, the 2007 NBA Europe Live Tour and the 2003 Tennis Davis Cup.
The media accreditation process will commence next week.
Post your comment
Visualizza commenti