The Executive Committee of FIBA Europe, after meeting with the representatives of all FIBA Europe Conferences and the President of the Competitions Commission, on 29th June 2002 in Halkida, Greece, has taken the following decisions:

Champions’ Cup for Men
FIBA Europe’s Top Men’s Club Competition, organised as of the 2002-2003 season, will be named ‘Champions’ Cup’.

The first phase of the Champions’ Cup will be played in three Conferences and will be followed by a Pan-European phase and a Final Four.

Taking into account the impossibility of reaching an agreement with ‘Euroleague’ and in order to accommodate the needs of strong clubs willing to join the Champions’ Cup, FIBA Europe is ready to set up ‘Golden’ group(s).

Clubs in the ‘Golden’ group(s) will be provided with an extended opportunity to qualify to the Pan-European phase and may retain their television and marketing rights, while benefiting from services provided by the Conferences and FIBA Europe.

After the season 2002-2003, the system will be optimised in order to maximise sports quality, territorial coverage, general media exposure and revenues for all parties involved.

Clubs should register via their national federations no later than 17th July 2002. The draws for all Conferences will be held on Tuesday, 30th July at the respective Conference headquarters, i.e. Paris (West), Sofia (South)
and Vilnius (North).

Competition will start on 1st October.

Unofficial Leagues
Any unofficial league shall only be recognised by FIBA Europe if all national federations involved have agreed to the league and it is approved by FIBA Europe.

EuroLeague Women
The draw for the EuroLeague Women will be held on Tuesday 6th August in Munich, Germany.

FIBA Eurocup Women
The draws for the FIBA Eurocup Women will be held together with the draws for the Champions’ Cup for Men i.e. on Tuesday 30th July, at the headquarters of the respective Conferences.

Nominations
The Executive Committee has nominated Mr. Algimantas Pavilonis (Lithuania) as FIBA Europe Associated Sports Director, and the following Managing Directors of the FIBA Europe Conferences:

Conference North: Mr. Sarunas Marciulionis (Lithuania)
Conference South: Mr. Kosta Iliev (Bulgaria)
Conference West: Mr. Jose Antonio Montero Botanch (Spain)

For more details contact:

Jon Ingram
Communications Officer
FIBA Europe
Tel: 49+89 780 608 21
Fax: 49+89 780 608 27