Malaga’s participation for one season in the Euroleague would be unsustainable, as López Nieto, president of the team that won the Basketball Champions League and finished first in the Liga Endesa regular season, pointed out.
“BCL was a strategic bet when we chose to play there. I had done a very long analysis about the Euroleague and I think Unikaha was cheated, but above all the environment of the team. We were constantly talking about Euroleague, Euroleague, Euroleague but we could not reach such an event either financially or on a sporting level. It wasn’t even our time. We had to tell the world the truth. Of course there will be people who don’t believe it and will continue to talk about the Euroleague. I’m not saying it’s not a great sporting event, as a spectacle. I watch Euroleague games, but it doesn’t mean we can afford it. Moreover, our strategy has proven to be a good one. We are committed to the BCL, which is a sustainable organization in terms of sporting results and financial aspects. It is an organization that has developed and will develop more than the Eurocup. The result will be the union of the two events. We will be in the right place for this merger to be good for us, not because they will favor us, but because Malaga has a voice. In the Euroleague environment you have no voice, you are a team that plays for the other 13“, he emphasized, referring to the 13 teams with “closed” contracts.
As for his team’s ambitions, the one-time international referee said: “The ceiling is there, but the illusion has no ceiling. What we have to do is be realistic and know where we stand. We are fighting against very high budgets and we have to know our position. We are going through a golden era, with two titles in two years, I am not closing the door on any goals this year, we will fight hard, although I know it is difficult. The important thing is to be there. That people also know that when we lose a game it’s normal is great. With Real, Valencia, Barcelona or Baskonia we had results that were not as good as we had recently. We will try. We have half the budget of the two teams that are in the Euroleague, while the budget of Real and Barcelona is four times, or three and a half times bigger. Whatever we do, we will do it wisely. They chose a competition like the Euroleague, which demands more. We play almost 20 more than us, but that was their choice, nobody forced them to do it. Everyone chooses their own path. We, intelligently, with the gasoline we have, carry similar things».
Finally, regarding the future moves of his team, he noted:Our idea is to continue with the large body of the team. There will be some changes, that’s normal, some things need to be tweaked to improve, but the idea is to keep the core of players we have. We depend on the market, but in any case life goes on. Everyone has their clauses, we are not going to negotiate a single clause, which for us is very important. If someone wants to activate their clause it means they want to leave. Whoever does not want to be with us, then let him leave. We will thank him for the services he offered us. I don’t know if there is anything, probably not, but rumors always precede news and are sometimes fueled by an agent using the Media and the Media is useful to people. Sometimes the market gets skewed, but that’s something we can’t control».
Source: Sport Fm
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