Euroleague has decided which teams will participate during the next season’s edition of Euroleague both directly in the group stage and those who will fight for a spot playing in the qualifying round. Find out all the teams and with what criteria they were chosen.

REGULAR SEASON PARTICIPANTS

CLUBCOUNTRYRESULTLICENCE
1. BarcelonaSpainFinalistA
2. Caja LaboralSpainChampionA
3. Real MadridSpainSemifinalistA
4. Unicaja MalagaSpainSemifinalistA
5. PanathinaikosGreeceChampionA
6. OlympiacosGreeceFinalistA
7. FenerbahceTurkeyChampionA
8. Efes PilsenTurkeyFinalistA
9. SienaItalyChampionA
10. RomaItalyQuarterfinalistA
11. Maccabi TAIsraelFinalistA
12. CSKA MoscowRussiaChampionA
13. ZalgirisLithuaniaFinalistA
14. Lietuvos RytasLithuaniaChampionB
15. AJ MilanoItalyFinalistB
16. PartizanSerbiaChampionB
17. CibonaCroatiaChampionB
18. OlimpijaSloveniaFinalistB
19. BambergGermanyChampionB
20. CholetFranceChampionB
21. ProkomPolandChampionB
22. ValenciaSpainEurocup ChampionC
23. Winner of Qualifying Rounds
24. Winner of Qyalifying Rounds

QUALIFYING ROUNDS PARTICIPANTS

CLUBCOUNTRYRESULT
1. MaroussiGreeceSemifinalist
2. KhimkiRussiaFinalist
3. UNICS KazanRussiaSemifinalist
4. Le MansFranceFinalist
5. ASVEL *FranceRegular Season
6. Chorale RoanneFranceSemifinalist
7. Hapoel Galil GilboaIsraelChampion
8. HemofarmSerbiaFinalist
9. Budivelnyk *UkraineFinalist
10. ALBA Berlin *GermanyQuarterfinalist
11. CharleroiBelgiumChampion
12. CasertaItalySemifinalist
13. BuducnostMontenegroChampion
14. Barons RigaLatviaChampion
15. GroningenNetherlandsChampion
16. NymburkCzech RepublicChampion

* = wild cards

The Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) board members met Wednesday in Barcelona to prepare for the General Assembly that will take place on July, 7 in Barcelona, a day before the Euroleague Draw. The meeting began with a brief review of the 2009-10 season, where all present agreed that the season offered a very high sporting standard that allowed fans to enjoy very entertaining and tense games.

Board members were presented with the evolution of the television distribution this season, which broke records by reaching up to 197 countries, as well as a review of the overall results from this year’s Final Four, which has been considered by all as one of the best such events in terms of organization, attendance and sponsorship acquisition.

ECA board members agreed that it was necessary to continue working and moving forward with initiatives to be able to continue growing basketball and to push through the current economic crisis. Euroleague presented the end-of-year budget as well as new proposals to enhance the commercial attractiveness of the competition and the value of the company.

Representatives of the clubs at the meeting discussed ways of protecting the competition through the implementation of common accounting regulations and by ensuring that participating clubs are able to financially withstand the expense needed to complete the season.

Board members present were able to evaluate and discuss new proposals to improve the quality, distribution and commercialization of the competition, offering sponsors an increasingly global and high quality product, through a Game of the Week concept. This platform would allow for Euroleague to have a pre-selected game to be specially produced with additional highlights, higher production quality and English commentary for increased commercial possibilities.

Finally, representatives were presented modifications in the competition By Laws, the calendar for the 2010-11 season, as well as the new seeding system for the Euroleague regular season draw, which will be held on July 8 in Barcelona. The new system relies on a global ranking of all clubs based on their performances in the Euroleague and the Eurocup over the last three seasons.

The teams that will participate in the 2010-11 Euroleague and Eurocup seasons were also presented at the Board meeting. A total of 22 teams are pre-qualified to the Euroleague regular season: 13 with long-term A Licenses, 8 teams with one-year B Licenses and 1 with a one-year C License. Another 16 teams will play in the newly-expanded Euroleague Qualification Rounds in the fall. Two survivors from the qualification rounds will join the Euroleague regular season with one-year B Licenses. The other 14 qualification teams will play in the 2010-11 Eurocup regular season.

All proposals are pending definitive approval from the Euroleague General Assembly.

Euroleague Commercial Assets Board members:

CLUBS:

Asseco Prokom
Caja Laboral
CSKA Moscow
Efes Pilsen
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Olympiacos Piraeus
Real Madrid
Montepaschi Siena

LEAGUES:

Adriatic League
German League
French League
Italian League

Source: www.euroleague.net