Andrey Vatutin to represent BEKO PBL in process of creature United tournament
On Wednesday March the 14 during BEKO PBL Board meeting Andrey Vatutin was voted to represent the League in the group whcih will control creature of the United tournament. This group will consist of delegates from the Ministry for sport, Russian Basketball Federation and VTB League.
The meeting which was open for media was also attended deputy dircetor of the Department of State policy in the sphere of high performance sport Andrey Konokotin, RBF general secretary Natalya Galkina and member of FIBA Central Bureau Sergey Chernov.
Andrey Vatutin informed the participants about the work which has been already done and current tasks in the process of uniting the leagues. The following issues have been mentioned:
- A survey of all clubs playing in VTB United League and their national federations has been done. The majority were in favor of participation in the new draft, subject to various requirements;
- Talks were held with the CEO of Euroleague Jordi Bertomeu. The initial conclusion: Euroleague supports the idea of creating a unified competition and is ready to contribute to its formation. It is assumed that all participating countries will at least keep the quota in the Euroleague and Eurocup. Bertomeu explained that blind copying of the Adriatic League scheme is not possible, in part because, in the coming season, the existing rules of the Adriatic League will be changed. Nevertheless, it is supposed to use a similar system, customized to suit the event. Bertomeu supports the idea of saving the maximum number of Russian clubs in the new league. More specific arrangements with the Euroleague are supposed to be reachead during the Eurocup Final Four in Khimki, 14-15 April 2012;
- The system of the competition will be selected, when it comes to the determination of the composition of the participants. There are various options. At present, the most likely is the scheme by which at the end of the tournament clubs in all countries, including Russia, will participate in the national playoffs. However, there are other options;
- BEKO PBL partner law firm YUST develops the founding documents of the new event, analyzes the founding documents of the BEKO PBL and the VTB United League, and is also engaged in audit of the leagues. Results will be presented in late April.
All the representatives of the BEKO PBL clubs expressed their desire to take part in the work of uniting the tournaments.
