The Euroleague and FIBA met on Tuesday at FIBA Europe's HQ in Munich, and after the meeting, the Euroleague "released a statement making public its proposal for collaboration with FIBA," according to Ricardo González of AS. The Euroleague confirmed that for six months, since the last meeting in November, "it has been requesting a meeting, which finally took place on Tuesday." It also asked FIBA "to rescind all the sanctions that have been imposed, but FIBA has not agreed to this." It was "underlined that the only point of disagreement after the meeting is the number of clubs" that should play in the Euroleague (AS, 5/3). The main points proposed by the Euroleague were:
- Definition of a collaboration agreement that establishes a stable, long-term framework in which mutual confidence plays a central role in execution.
- Elimination of any sanctions on clubs and national teams, respecting both the freedom of clubs to decide their future as well as the national teams' participation in competitions for which they have qualified.
- Integration of FIBA and Euroleague Basketball through new governance and competition structures.
- Definition of new common standards for the participation of players in national team competitions.
The proposal was developed in agreement with the principal professional basketball clubs in an understanding of the importance of creating a stable and smooth collaboration with the int'l federation. FIBA rejected to remove the sanctions and threats of possible sanctions that European clubs and national teams are currently under. Euroleague Basketball will continue with its ongoing efforts to ensure that further growth of professional club basketball is achieved through dialogue (
Euroleague).
