FBU Secretary General Drabikovsky: I think we will have to ask FIBA ​​for help again. And Prometheus jeopardized our relationship with FIBA

The International Basketball Federation has helped Ukraine a lot lately

General Secretary of the Basketball Federation of Ukraine Vladimir Drabikovsky commented on the decision Prometheus withdraw from the upcoming championship of Ukraine.

“Indeed, the situation is very difficult. The main thing is that in international basketball we have a clear vertical line – this is the structure of FIBA. The situation with the application of the Ukrainian club to the Eurocup is unexpected for us. For almost 10 years, our clubs have played exclusively in official tournaments under the auspices of FIBA, it was the Champions League or the FIBA ​​Cup.”

“Clubs have changed – tournaments have remained. This season, as in the past, our champion, Prometheus, should play in the Champions League, but the club changed its vector at the last moment, without even notifying the FBU, and went to the Eurocup.”

“At the same time, the FBU now has excellent relations with FIBA, we have already said that the main European basketball organization met us in the summer and did not accept entry fees for 14 youth and national teams representing our country in the international arena. FIBA was one of the first international organizations to respond to our appeal regarding the disqualification of Russian clubs and teams in international competitions.”

“Every FBU initiative has always had support from FIBA. In particular, the European Championship 2025 was supposed to be held in Ukraine, at least we would have been given the group stage. And this despite the fact that there are no corresponding halls for 10 thousand spectators in Ukraine yet. That is, they made concessions to us and, solely on the basis of our words, the guarantees of the country and the layouts of future gaming halls in Lviv and Kyiv, they were ready to give up EuroBasket.”

“Unfortunately, this did not happen because of the war, but I am convinced that EuroBasket will definitely be in Ukraine after our victory. I’m not talking about the media rights that we have always had from FIBA. Unlike most federations, we received a powerful TV package from FIBA. On the territory of Ukraine, we can absolutely free of charge show the matches of the World and European Championships, as well as their qualifications, we transmitted these broadcasts via the Xsport channel, which is publicly available in Ukraine. At one time, we received free rights to broadcast the Champions League.”

“We survived this summer and all Ukrainian teams took part in the planned competitions. It is difficult to predict what will happen in a year. The war continues, funding for sports from the budget will definitely not increase, and sponsors are focused on helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I think we will have to ask FIBA ​​for help again. Based on all this, I can only say one thing – Prometheus, by his decision, jeopardized not his own, but our relationship with FIBA.

Recall that Prometheus is not going to participate in the championship of the Ukrainian Superleague. The reason for the refusal is an overestimated application fee from the FBU. Instead of 40 thousand hryvnias, the FBU demands 4.5 million from Prometheus.

Source: Sportarena

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