EUROLEAGUE & EUROCUP TEAMS FOR NEXT SEASON

The Euroleague Commercial Assets Board met yesterday in Barcelona. The main order of business was to approve the teams that will play next season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, which will feature a new Top 16 round expanded to 14 games, and in the Eurocup, where the qualifying round was eliminated and a single-game final reestablished. The board also analyzed a summary of last season's sporting and fiscal success before making plans to enhance fan enjoyment and security in the future.

TURKISH AIRLINES EUROLEAGUE 2012-2013

The board approved the awarding of a new two-year A License to Italy’s most successful basketball club ever, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, to replace one that became a wild card following the sports results over the past three seasons of another Italian team, Lottomatica Roma. 

Among the B-License teams are newcomers Besiktas JK Milangaz of Turkey, Elan Chalon-sur-Saone of France and Cedevita Zagreb of Croatia. 

A wild-card C License for Alba Berlin of Germany was approved by the board, taking into consideration the importance of the German market for Euroleague Basketball and its interest in developing the basketball business in that country. 

Wild cards were also given to Bennet Cantu of Italy and Unics Kazan of Russia for the Eight-Team Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. 

The complete list of 24 teams that will participate in the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season is as follows: 

Anadolu Efes Istanbul	Turkey	Finalist
Asseco Prokom Gdynia	Poland	Champion
BC Khimki Moscow Region	Russia	Finalist
Besiktas JK Milangaz Istanbul	Turkey	Champion
Brose Baskets Bamberg	Germany	Champion
Caja Laboral Vitoria	Spain	Semifinalist
Cedevita Zagreb	Adriatic 1st Croatian	in Adriatic League
CSKA Moscow	Russia	Champion
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan	Italy	Finalist
Elan Chalon-sur-Saone	France	Champion
FC Barcelona Regal	Spain	Champion
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul	Turkey	Finalist
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius	Lithuania	Finalist
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	Israel	Champion
Montepaschi Siena	Italy	Champion
Olympiacos Piraeus	Greece	Champion
Panathinaikos Athens	Greece	Finalist
Partizan mt:s Belgrade	Adriatic 1st Serbian	in Adriatic League
Real Madrid	Spain	Finalist
Unicaja Malaga	Spain	9th in Regular Season
Union Olimpija Ljubljana	Adriatic 1st Slovenian	in Adriatic League
Zalgiris Kaunas	Lithuania	Champion
Alba Berlin (Wild Card)	Germany	Quarterfinalist
Winning team of Qualifying Round - -

Those teams participating in the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds are as follows: 

BC Donetsk Ukraine Champion Bennet Cantu (Wild Card) Italy Quarterfinalist CEZ Basketball Nymburk Czech Republic Champion Le Mans Sarthe Basket France Finalist PBC Lukoil Academic Bulgaria Champion Ratiopharm Ulm Germany Finalist Telenet BC Oostende Belgium Champion Unics Kazan (Wild Card) Russia 6th in Regular Season

The Qualifying Rounds winner advances to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season while the other seven teams will play in the Eurocup Regular Season. 

EUROCUP 2012-2013

The competition changes in the 2012-13 Eurocup, returning to two-game home-and-away semifinals and a single-game final, were also approved by the board. Changes also included the elimination of the Qualifying Round phase of the competition, although the number of participating teams (32) remains the same. 


Those teams participating in the Eurocup Regular Season are as follows: 

Artland Dragons	Germany	Semifinalist
Azovmash Mariupol (Wild Card)	Ukraine	Finalist
Banco Di Sardegna Sassari	Italy	Semifinalist
Banvit BK Bandirma***	Turkey	Semifinalist
Belgacom Spirou Charleroi	Belgium	Finalist
Cholet Basket	France	Semifinalist
Crvena Zvezda Diva Belgrade**	Adriatic 10th	in Regular Season
EiffelTowers Den Bosch	Netherlands	Champion
Galatasaray Medical Park Istanbul	Turkey	Semifinalist
Gescrap Bilbao Basket	Spain	Quarterfinalist
Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem**	Israel	Semifinalist
KK Buducnost VOLI Podgorica	Adriatic 4th	After FinalFour
KK Cibona Zagreb**	Adriatic 7th	in Regular Season
Lagun Aro San Sebastian	Spain	Quarterfinalist
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar	Russia	3rd Place
Orleans	France	Semifinalist
Panionios On Telecoms Athens	Greece	3rd Place
Rudupis Prienai***	Lithuania	3rd Place
s.Oliver Baskets Wuerzburg	Germany	Semifinalist
Spartak St. Petersburg	Russia	6th after Playoffs
Trefl Sopot	Poland	Finalist
Triumph Lyubertsy	Russia	4th Place
Valencia Basket	Spain	Semifinalist
VAP Kolossos Rhodes	Greece	4th Place
VEF Riga	Latvia	Champion
+7 Teams from Euroleague	Qualifying	Rounds

** Wildcards coming after the renouncement of teams: Maccabi Ashdod, Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro and HKK Siroki WWin.

*** Wildcards coming due to the 2011-12 EuroChallenge champion and runner-up - Besiktas JK Milangaz Istanbul of Turkey, Elan Chalon-sur-Saone of France - qualifying for the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. 

Finally, the board looked ahead to the next Final Four at O2 in London, the 2012 Olympic Games basketball venue. Board members reasoned that London is a strategically important market for Euroleague Basketball, due to its commercial possibilities as well as the benefits of having the partnership with AEG grow. Euroleague Basketball directors have already held organizational meetings and are actively working on making the next edition of the Final Four better than previous editions. 

(via Euroleague.net)