BarcelonaFollowing the start of the bombing of Ukraine, the Euroleague decided that no match of the competition would be played in Russia. The decision does not affect the commitments that Russian teams must play as visitors, which will be maintained on the scheduled date and place. The organization promised to have a new agenda this Monday to reschedule the postponed matches.
CSKA-Barça, which was due to play this Sunday, was postponed. “We were concerned about the safety of the players and the coaching staff and managed to postpone the match in St. Petersburg. We made arrangements with the head of Euroleague competitions and the only way to ensure safety was to play the matches in “I think it’s the best decision because the competition can continue,” said Josep Cubells, manager of Barça’s basketball section.
“Decisions have been made to protect the integrity and continuity of the competition, and to allow teams to continue to defend their right to compete on the court, isolating the sport from any political action. they are in line with the top priority of the Euroleague, which is their responsibility to protect the integrity of players, coaches, fans and staff without the slightest risk, “said the Euroleague.
“The Euroleague, on behalf of its clubs, wants to strongly condemn any act of war such as those that are sadly happening in Ukraine. The clubs remain united in their purpose to use the power of basketball to unite communities. The Euroleague embraces and celebrates diversity, which is widely present in their communities and at the core of all teams.This diversity is understood to be deeply linked to the value of respect, and encourages the free expression of different opinions.Violence of any kind it is contrary to these values and is not tolerated or accepted as a way of defending anyone’s opinion or position, “he added.
Although he had initially obtained assurances from the Russian authorities that foreign teams could enter and leave the country without any problems, the leaders backed down and on Thursday postponed both the match that Barça had to play on the Zenit St. Petersburg court and Bayern-CSKA Moscow and Bitci Baskonia-Unics Kazan.
Pustovyi, worried
Ukrainian center-back Artem Pustovyi, a former Barça player, was saddened by the situation in his country on Thursday. “The match against Spain has been very difficult for us and for the whole of Ukraine. It is very difficult to play in this situation because of what is happening in our country. We have tried to do as well as possible, but we all thought about the our families. These are crazy days for us, “said Pustovyi, who wore the inscription ‘No war’ on his right cheek during the match. “I must say that Putin must stop doing this shit in our country. He must not come to our country and he can also go to other countries, so we must be united. He will never stop. It’s crazy. I can’t. believing that this is happening in 2022 “, he added with a sad face.
