The clubs of the ECA Shareholders, who met last Wednesday, May 6 in Istanbul, have unanimously requested to send an official letter to FIBA that endorses the communication previously sent by ECA and the principal domestic leagues to the FIBA Secretary General, Mr. Patrick Baumann. The ECA clubs also reaffirmed their full commitment to the current management model of European professional competitions, which are owned and managed by the clubs, as well as their determination to continue under the same model in the future in order to continue the growth experienced in recent years.
The letter reads as follows:
Dear Patrick,
ECA and its Shareholders gathered in Istanbul, Turkey on 6 May 2015, and agreed to send this letter expressing the official position of our organisation. The position has been approved by the Euroleague members, namely our Clubs and Domestic Leagues.
- Clubs form the base and foundation of all basketball activity worldwide. As a result they must be represented and involved in all decisions that have an impact on their activity
- Professional club competitions must be organised by professional leagues, therefore in Europe the company that the Clubs and Domestic Leagues currently own (ECA) must continue to manage the Euroleague and Eurocup competitions
- The work of ECA over the past 15 years has raised the standards of European club competitions to levels never seen before across all areas of the business
- National Teams are an important part of basketball and must be supported by ECA, its Clubs and Domestic Leagues as they have been for the past 15 years
- ECA, its Clubs and Domestic Leagues reject the scheduling of National Team games during the club calendar. The draft windows during the club calendar are unacceptable as a result of this
- A solution has been found by FIBA with regards to the NBA and its Clubs participation in the FIBA Competition System and Calendar as of 2017. ECA request to sit down once more with FIBA in order to find a suitable solution, maintaining the principles that are shared by all basketball stakeholders
- Clubs activity generates the large majority of the entire basketball business, and it is the Clubs who take care of player’s welfare. National Federations must respect the clubs activity and continue to take care of player’s welfare by:
- Ensuring at least one month’s complete rest for all players worldwide; establishing a global insurance program for National Team training, games and competitions; sharing revenues from National Team Competitions with clubs in order to compensate their player’s release as is already the case in other team sports
We look forward to the above remarks being addressed in a prompt and timely manner, and remain available for any further clarifications as necessary.
