Russian basketball clubs suspended from EuroLeague, EuroCup

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Russian basketball clubs were suspended from EuroLeague contests on Monday due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The EuroLeague Commercial Assets (ECA) suspended the "participation of Russian Federation teams" in both Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, which include CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan, and Zenit St Petersburg, as well as the 7DAYS EuroCup, with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, EuroLeague Basketball said in a statement.

The statement, following the shareholders' executive board meeting that made the decision, said the league would "monitor the evolution of the situation," referring to the war in Ukraine.

It added that "should the situation not evolve in a favorable way," regular season games against Russian teams would be "annulled to configure the leagues' standings."

Zenit, CSKA Moscow, and UNICS Kazan are currently among the best eight in the 2021-22 EuroLeague regular season standings.

The EuroLeague is Europe's top-flight basketball tournament held every season.

CSKA Moscow are one of the biggest basketball powerhouses in Europe, winning the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title eight times. They last secured the EuroLeague championship in 2019 final held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

According to the format, after 34 games in the regular season, the top eight teams qualify for the 2022 EuroLeague playoffs.

The regular season in the 2021-22 EuroLeague will conclude on April 8 to be followed by the playoffs on April 19-May 4.

Meanwhile, Lokomotiv Kuban, the only Russian team in the second-tier 7DAYS EuroCup campaign, are in the third spot in Group A.

Following the regular season in the EuroCup, the top eight clubs from Group A will face the best eight teams from Group B in the Eight finals that will be held on April 19-20.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

Since the war began last Thursday, more than 350 civilians have been killed and over 1,600 injured, according to Ukraine’s Health Ministry.