Goran Šašić came out and in an extensive interview for the Russian “Sport Express” talked about the future of the Euroleague, but also the future of Zvezda and Partizan in this competition.
Izvor: Youtube/NOVA S/Screenshot/MN Press
Executive director of the board of the organization of Euroleague coaches Goran Šašić spoke about the possibility of the return of Russian teams to the Euroleague, and emphasized that he saw no reason to assign new places in the competition to France, Germany and Great Britain.
Russia previously had two or three representatives in the elite, but since March 2022, when the war in Ukraine began, there are no more of their teams in the competition. This season, discussions have already started about what should happen if the Russians, led by CSKA and Zenit, fight in the elite. Šašić was recently in St. Petersburg and talked to the representatives of the Russian teams about it.
“I’m not that pessimistic. A similar thing happened in the mid-nineties when Yugoslavia was subjected to sports sanctions for three years (1992-1995). It is my opinion that the sports sanctions against Russia will also last for three years. That’s my assessment. Again, I’m not a politician. I am not the president of the country to decide on this. But I think we should all look at what UEFA is doing. As soon as we see that UEFA brings back Russian clubs and the national team, it will cause a domino effect of all kinds. I hope that Euroleague, as a private company, will be one of the first European organizations to include Russian teams in its membership again“, he said.
Speaking about the membership of new teams in the Euroleague, he pointed out that he does not see why the Euroleague should be opened to new clubs from Western Europe. On the other hand, there are markets that should be explored. He also mentioned that Red Star and Partizan deserved much bigger rights.
“I never understood why the Euroleague wants to expand with clubs from France, Germany, Great Britain… I think they need to focus on basketball fundamentals. Crvena zvezda, Partizan, Valencia and Virtus deserve an A license much more than clubs from those three countries Additionally, more teams from Lithuania, Russia, Greece, Turkey deserve to be shareholders of the Euroleague, and another team from Israel also deserves a place more than teams from France, Germany, Great Britain…“
He also presented shocking data that the Euroleague’s earnings are minimal when it comes to the markets of Germany and France and that the Euroleague should concentrate on completely different markets.
“Do you know how much the Euroleague received from TV rights in Germany in ten years? Zero euros. We entered the French market, and the situation there is even worse. The organization had to pay extra for the competition to be broadcast on French television. And here we are talking about millions of euros. On the other hand, the television contracts in Greece, Israel and Turkey are such that the organization earns about 10,000,000 euros. Therefore, we should focus on countries willing to pay for content, and not on Germany, where the income is zero, and on France where you have to pay”emphasized Šašić.
He also supported the project of Dubai in the Euroleague and pointed out that it is necessary to follow football and what is happening with big clubs that regularly play their matches in Asia and America.
“It’s an opportunity that many of Europe’s best football clubs have taken and now they’re playing in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar. They believe it’s a good opportunity for everyone. It’s given football a lot more capital turnover, so it makes sense that basketball follow the same path. That’s why I said that I will raise both hands for the Dubai project. Of course I would be very happy if it happened next season, but it wouldn’t be heaven on earth if it happened in two years,” he concluded.