Spanish Olympic Commitee (COE) President Alejandro Blanco said that the exclusion of the Spanish national basketball team from EuroBasket 2017 "concerns him a lot," according to the EFE. But Blanco said that he has spoken with FIBA and the Spanish Basketball League (ACB) and believes that "if the situation does not fester, it will be resolved." Blanco: "There has to be an agreement because this affects many countries and many of the biggest teams in the world. They have to sit and talk, reason and resolve things." He insisted that it is a problem "with clubs, which cannot affect whether a national team goes to the Olympics or whether an Olympic committee can register a team" (EFE, 4/20). AS reported of the six federations -- Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Israel, Poland and Turkey -- that were warned they could be banned from EuroBasket 2017, several "have reacted." Greece is positioning itself on the side of FIBA "and said that it wants the interests of the national team to prevail." Similar moves were made by Lithuania and Russia, which is one of eight teams that was banned. Those countries "announced sanctions for clubs that participate in the Eurocup." But Slovenia sent a letter to FIBA asking "why its federation is being sanctioned when the Adriatic League is an independent organization" that negotiated with the Euroleague on its own (AS, 4/20).
