La sixth wave of coronavirus and its contagious variant micron is wreaking havoc on European basketball. No serious cases Among the many infected players and coaches – the vast majority are asymptomatic or have only faint signs -, but the outbreaks in the teams are being so massive and the protocols so strict, which are causing the postponement of dozens of matches. And that begins to be a Major problem due to the shortage of dates in the calendar to be able to dispute them. The traffic jam is monumental.
In the Liga ACB last season about 40 games were postponed, and in the present there are already 25, including all those from the sixteenth day. By the end of December they had already tested positive 56 players (the Manresa with 13 cases and the Madrid with 11 they took the palm) and seven games had been postponed. And that trend has increased in the new year, with 12 more postponements.
The basic protocol agreed by the clubs is that each team must have nine eligible players in every game. If he doesn’t have them, heACB suspends the match ex officio unless the club requests otherwiseeither because agree to play with less cash or because you agree to complete your template with branch team players or associates.
The ACB It is working with speed to try to relocate all these parties to dates as close as possible, but it is not easy. He has recently set new days for the dispute of 18 of the 25 pending matches. All a show for avoid coincidences of the teams involved that also participate in the Euroleague, Eurocup and FIBA Champions.
Squaring the CBA calendar is Tetris. Congratulations to those who carry the topic because it has a lot of merit to square everything and finish the game
Pedro Martnez, coach of the BAXI Manresa, was very eloquent in describing the complicated situation in which the League finds itself: “I think about the one who receives calls in the ACB about new cases of covid and I suffer from him. What a stress he must be going through. Squaring the CBA calendar is Tetris. Congratulations to those who carry the topic because it has a lot of merit to square everything and finish the game “.
The FIBA Cup and Windows further limit the dates
And they have an added problem, since almost the middle of the month of February is not able to reposition those parties postponed due to the dispute Copa del Rey (from 17 to 20) and two matches of the FIBA windows of the Spanish team qualification for the 2023 World Cup (on 24 and 27 against Ukraine). The greatest urgency for the CBA is be able to play the games postponed until matchday 17, those that qualify for the Copa del Rey. The League extended the term for it until January 30 and if they have not been able to dispute, apply the winning percentage to decide six of the qualifiers, well Real Madrid Y Barcelona they already are mathematically.
That decision has created unrest in some clubs. “I understand the interest of the ACB in closing the Cup qualification in the scheduled time. But it is impossible. The percentage of victories cannot be and is unfair … You have to extend and play all the games when you can. And they have to be played with enough preparation time. Not in any way. The health of the players by precipitating the competition must be safeguarded “, I wrote Pedro Martnez, involved in that fight with the Manresa, on their social networks.
The percentage of victories cannot be and is unfair … You have to stretch out and play all the games when you can. And they have to be played with enough preparation time. Not in any way
Greater was the anger of Ibon Navarro, coach of the MoraBanc Andorra, especially with the criterion of ACB to postpone matches: “we are going to come with eleven and yesterday we sent a guy to the hospital because he couldn’t breathe in training. We trained for two days,” he said after his team’s defeat in Bilbao. “The rules must be followed, but I would like everyone to follow them. Sometimes for being good and being honest, you are foolish“.
The rules must be followed, but I would like everyone to follow them. Sometimes for being good and being honest, you are foolish
But the ACB She is not the only one with trouble locating postponed matches. The Euroleague is in a similar situation after having postponed already 24 games this season (jornada 19 se aplaz ntegra) and three more from the Eurocup. To try to reduce so much suspension, the 18 member teams agreed on January 3 that players already recovered from covid-19 may reappear between seven and 10 days after testing positive (before it was 14 days) as long as there is negative CRP.
The NBA opens its hand and not for the business: it has only suspended 11 games this season
The NBA, with hundreds of infections, is clear that the business cannot stop and has only postponed 11 games despite outbreaks in its teams. Yesterday there were 41 affected members. The League lowered the minimum quarantine period from 10 to six days for those who test positive for COVID-19, provided they are vaccinated and are asymptomatic. There must be a minimum of eight players and it facilitates the hiring of temporary contracts with even day contracts without these being counted in the salary limit of the teams if it is due to covid-19 or serious injuries.
Euroleague: More restrictive laws in some countries
Even so, the postponements do not stop. The laws of each country are sometimes more restrictive (they often decree the isolation of the entire team when there is an active outbreak) than those of the tournament itself. which states that to postpone it, a team will have to have fewer than eight healthy players registered. And as the relationship of the Euroleague with the ACB It’s void, the timing of their matches is unfeasible. When the pandemic ceases, many double days of the maximum competition are coming, with matches from Tuesday to Friday, which accentuate the general chaos.
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