President of CSKA basketball: “All our complaints and appeals are frozen, there is no chance of returning to the Euroleague”

President CSKA Andrey Vatutin in an interview with , he announced the impossibility of participating in international matches in the near future.

In March, the Euroleague announced that CSKA, Zenit Saint Petersburg and UNICS Kazan were excluded from the tournament due to the situation in Ukraine, their results were cancelled. Russian clubs are also not participating in the new European Cup season.

CSKA has appealed to the Luxembourg Basketball Court of Arbitration regarding the exclusion from the Euroleague and the non-respect of contractual clauses by two basketball players who left the army team after February 24, 2022.

– Is the Euroleague considering the return of CSKA, at least on the sidelines?

— There is no change in the current status as of today. In private conversations, one position may seem, in official discussions another, and now there are simply no discussions on this topic. You have to understand that not all colleagues are completely free in their decisions, because in the demagogic phrase “sport is outside politics”, which I cannot stand, there is exactly no truth. On the contrary, sport is the most important element of politics, it is a constant and a story. I believe that until what happens passes the military phase, it is extremely difficult and even unrealistic to represent Russian teams in European basketball arenas. No one will make the admission decision on them and will not give security guarantees.

We also remember the logistics, which now do not favor frequent flights to Europe, the incredible difficulties of cross-border payments. The vertical and horizontal links are indeed cut. It is worth proceeding from the fact that there are no prerequisites for CSKA’s return to the Euroleague now. What happens next time will tell. As I often say, the present will show the future.

– What is the fate of the appeal you filed in October against the decision to exclude the Euroleague?

– The only thing we can say with certainty is that it is accepted. I guess it sits in a drawer or briefcase without moving. Any attempt to change anything in this case is frozen through no fault of ours. You have to be realistic, so as long as the fighting continues, I don’t see any chance of returning to the Euroleague. In February, the excommunication looked like shocking news, now it looks like grave inevitability.

– Are the tests concerning the departure of Bolomboy and Voigtmann from CSKA nearing completion?

– They froze at the same stage they were. Cases accepted for review, no further news. We cannot speed up the process.