ULEB statement on international calendars

The Assembly of the ULEB, held today in Barcelona, has studied the issue of the international calendars, after the decision of FIBA World on this respect.

1. The ULEB recognises the importance of the promotion of the national team championships in Europe,World, and Olympic Games, as well as the availability of the leagues to collaborate with their respective federations.

2. The ULEB expresses the unavoidable need for the clubs to have a minimum of nine months of competition in order to guarantee a sustainable basketball level from the sports and economic point of view. Insofar as the ULEB collaborates to attain this goal, it recognises the positive side of suspending the classification games during the season and the study of new classification systems for Europe, points on which we are available to present proposals.

3. The ULEB states that the clubs are the ones responsible for granting the vacation period to the players, and also commits itself to its clubs granting them 30 days, so that the players can perform their sports activity under optimum conditions.

4. The ULEB considers that a clear view of the calendar is positive for the fans. Therefore, it decides to coordinate the national competitions, and it undertakes to their starting no later than the first weekend in October and their ending no later than June 15th. At the next meeting a coordinated calendar of national competitions based on these principles will be studied.

5. The ULEB asks all the federations to contract an insurance policy that covers the possible injuries of the players, considering this matter in equal terms in relation to the NBA clubs.

6. The ULEB shows its disagreement about an increase of the national team competitions, insofar as they may affect the above-mentioned points.