EuroLeague CEO and president, Jordi Bertomeu, talked about the possibility of ALBA Berlin receiving a long-term license.
Here is what the experienced executive told reporters during a press conference in Berlin, prior to the match between ALBA and Zalgiris Kaunas:
“Indeed, we have this vision (for ALBA to receive a long-term license). We believe that to complete the design of the league, we need to have 16 teams in equal conditions.
We believe that if we started with 11 clubs as owners of the league with this long-term license, this group has been increased by two clubs, at least for a temporary period, with Bayern Munich and ASVEL Villeurbanne. We want to complete that with three more clubs with the same conditions in the near future.
It is no secret that for us Germany has been a very important market. I just explained how good we are doing here in Germany, so as a natural consequence of this, ALBA is in the top of our candidates.
To make it happen needs some work still, needs that the EuroLeague clubs establish the calendar for this process, and also it needs some commitment from both sides.
But, I am confident that, based on our view of the club, based on our long relationship with ALBA, we will manage to have good news for the future. A future that you cannot think to be very, very short term.
So, it’s not going to happen next year. I just want to be clear and to avoid misunderstanding. It’s not going to happen next year. But, we are working on that, and clearly, I cannot deny, because it’s public, that we would love to have ALBA in this group in the future.”
