A first. After a vote, the shareholder clubs of the Euroleague, the premier basketball competition in Europe, have decided that the Final Four of the current season will take place next May in… Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Since the creation of the competition in 1958, all the matches have been played on the Old Continent, or in Israel since Maccabi Tel Aviv is one of the 13 shareholder clubs (for the past year, their home matches have been played in Belgrade due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict).
Abu Dhabi was preferred to Belgrade, the other finalist candidate, who wanted to organize the next three editions. The decision only concerns the Final Four of the current season. The semi-finals are scheduled for May 23, with the final and third place match on the 25th. These four matches are scheduled to be played at the Etihad Arena, which has already hosted several NBA preseason matches and two preparation matches of the American selection before the Paris Olympic Games last summer.
Towards an Emirati franchise in the Euroleague?
Surprising leader of the Euroleague with a record of nine victories (including eight in a row, current series) for only three losses, Paris Basketball, which faces Maccabi Tel Aviv this Tuesday evening (8:05 p.m.), will perhaps discover the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on this occasion. Or perhaps Monaco, which participated in this four-way final in 2023. Answer in five months.
The Euroleague has been planning an expansion towards the UAE for around two years, whose investment in major sporting events (Formula 1, MMA, etc.) has been increasing in recent years. In order to continue its growth towards new markets, it is even considering the upcoming integration of a franchise based in the UAE, which could initially join the Eurocup (C2), the antechamber of the Euroleague.
