Championship can be held with division into three divisions
The Secretary General of the Basketball Federation of Ukraine Volodymyr Drabikovsky shared his vision of the potential resumption of basketball competitions in the country.
The start of the basketball championship is traditionally scheduled for the fall, and new requirements will be developed for teams to participate in the championship against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
“We are convinced that the championship of Ukraine should be held. If the situation in the country does not change over the next few months, then we plan the following format: we will apply the principle according to which, at the beginning of the competition, we will divide the championship of Ukraine into several regions with halls where it is relatively safe to play. Thus, we must hold the first national stage of the Ukrainian Championship, which will include all interested teams that can fulfill the starting organizational requirements. I think they will be close to the requirements of last year’s First League,” Drabikovsky explained.
“After the first stage, the best teams from each region will advance to the first division of the Ukrainian championship, teams from the middle of the table will play each other in the second division, and the weakest teams will play each other. Of course, if we have [достаточно] teams in three divisions. Then they will play in their championships and determine the champions. The teams will play rounds. Such a system will be in men, women and in the WJBL championships.”
“In classic basketball, rounds will be played every few weeks. Thus, we are slightly reducing the number of matches in the championships, but players will also have the opportunity to play a full-fledged 3×3 Ukrainian championship. We will also hold these competitions throughout the autumn-spring season.”
“The start of the Ukrainian championship is scheduled for the end of October – beginning of November. Competition regulations and requirements for participants will be developed in the near future, and in mid-July, we must approve these documents at the FBU Executive Committee.”
“As for the legionnaires, I think we will allow them to play, but we understand that in the current situation it is unlikely that there will be many of them. But we, like all Ukrainians, hope that the situation will change for the better.”
It is expected that Prometheus, the undisputed leader of the last Superleague draw, will spend the next season in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League.
The 2021-22 season in the Super League was stopped due to a full-scale Russian invasion in February at the regular season stage. The winners at the end of the season were not awarded.
Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the decision to resume sports competitions in Ukraine under martial law.
Source: Sportarena
