Rule changes approved

The General Assembly also decided, at the unanimous request of Euroleague head coaches, to adopt a change in the 24-second rule which allows the game to continue without interruption after a missed shot on the 24-second limit. However, this rule will be applied starting in season 2003-04. Even though the coaches were prepared to accept the risk of playing the Euroleague with certain rules and the national competitions with different ones, the representatives of the clubs considered that an immediate change might cause confusion, mainly among the fans. The assembly decided to apply the change starting next season with the hope that in the ensuing year, everybody will be ready for a change of this rule, which, in a general opinion, has hurt the game.

The General Assembly also decided to allow the head coaches to call for a timeout after a player's last free throw - whether he is at the line for one, two or three attempts - provided the player makes the shot. The timeout must be called before the ball is in the hands of an inbounder after the made free throw. This change, also an explicit request of the head coaches, will be applied immediately, and therefore will be in effect for the first week of both the Euroleague and ULEB Cup games..