By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) - Serbian basketball club Partizan NIS Belgrade and Spain's Valencia Basket took a wild card each to participate in the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the organizers said in a statement on Thursday.
The two teams are among the 18 clubs for the upcoming season expected to start this autumn.
Partizan last played in the EuroLeague in the 2013-14 season, while Valencia Basket appeared in the 2020-21 campaign.
Meanwhile, Russian teams were barred from the EuroLeague for a season.
"Teams from the Russian Federation are suspended from participation in the 2022-23 competitions due to events derived from the ongoing war in Ukraine," the EuroLeague said.
- Partizan's Obradovic also returns to EuroLeague
Zeljko Obradovic, who currently coaches Partizan, is also back to familiar ground. The 62-year-old Serbian head coach won nine EuroLeague titles in his coaching career.
Obradovic was a Fenerbahce head coach from 2013 to 2020 and led the Istanbul club to their first-ever EuroLeague championship in 2017.
Before his Fenerbahce days, he was a longtime Panathinaikos head coach, guiding the Athens team to five EuroLeague titles in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011.
- Clubs participating in 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague:
- ALBA Berlin (Germany)
- Anadolu Efes (Türkiye)
- AS Monaco (France)
- AX Armani Exchange Milan (Italy)
- Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz (Spain)
- Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (Serbia)
- FC Barcelona (Spain)
- FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
- Fenerbahce Beko (Türkiye)
- LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne (France)
- Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (Israel)
- Olympiacos (Greece)
- Panathinaikos OPAP (Greece)
- Partizan NIS Belgrade (Serbia)
- Real Madrid (Spain)
- Valencia Basket (Spain)
- Virtus Segafredo Bologna (Italy)
- Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)