“Team from Dubai in Euroleague and Adriatic League coached by Pesic”

For some time now, there have been discussions about the inclusion of new groups in the Euroleaguewhich will radically change the format of the event.

The first priority for a long time has been the expansion in strong European markets, in other words in big cities. Its participation is expected to be launched in this direction Paris in the top European event. The team from the French capital is already in Eurocupup-and-coming and high-budget, so it seems like an ideal candidate.

Beyond that, there are also intentions to expand to Londonsomething clearly more demanding since English basketball is still at a very low level, although the country’s huge market is very attractive for its executives Euroleague.

The most controversial venture, however, which is being discussed by the people of the top European organization, is the expansion into the Middle East market, especially in Dubai, by creating a new franchise from “scratch”. This has yet to be made official, but the money is… a lot, so it doesn’t seem at all unlikely that we’ll see a team from the United Arab Emirates in Euroleague!

In fact, the valid “encestando” gives a new information on the specific subject. Specifically, it seems that beyond the Euroleaguethis newly formed team from Dubai might get a place in the Adriatic leaguewhich in turn would get considerable money for hosting.

In addition, the people behind this particular project already have in mind the man who will take over the bench of this team, namely Svetislav Pesic“legendary” Serbian coach who recently led his home country’s national team to the World Cup final!

Here it must be emphasized, that the people who run the… business “Dubai in the Euroleague”, are Serbs, something not accidental regarding the choice of Pesic. Specifically, one of them is Dragan Kamenjacevicwho was an amateur player and worked as Pesic’s assistant when he coached Girona 18 years ago. Second important personality behind the project is George Djokovicbrother of the famous tennis player Novak Djokovic.

Anyway, the important thing is that with these possible changes, the Euroleague is expected to change its format drastically. The money promised by Dubai is too much (50 million per year), however the groups express concern about the long journeys that will be required, since countries such as Spain, Lithuania and Germany, they are 7-8 hours from UAE. It remains to be seen if the theory in this matter will actually be put into practice, and to what extent the possible inclusion of these teams in the Euroleague will affect the format, the number of teams or the permanent contracts…