Euroleague ready for competition, rule changes

The Euroleague Basketball Board (with participation of PBC CSKA president Sergey Kushchenko) met in Barcelona on Thursday to discuss near - and long-term improvements being considered for the future growth of the competition. The Board expressed general support for a proposed change in the Euroleague competition structure for the 2008-09 season that will mean fewer games in the regular season and more in the playoffs. It was also in agreement to move up one of the recent rule changes as approved internationally by FIBA in time to be implemented for the start of next season. Both changes require approval by the Euroleague Basketball General Assembly, which meets next on July 7 in Berlin, Germany, a day before the 2008-09 Euroleague Draw in the same city.

The competition change that will be put before the General Assembly next month rearranges the Euroleague regular season group structure and shortens the phase. The new structure would comprise four groups of six teams each instead of the previous three groups of eight. With each team playing the others in its group twice, the regular season would therefore last 10 games instead of the current 14. The second change proposed allows for more games later in the season, during the Quarterfinal Playoffs. That phase would now feature best-of-five series instead of the best-of-three series being played the last four seasons. Both the Top 16 and Final Four phases will remain as they have been, without changes.

Among several rule changes recently approved by FIBA World for application globally in upcoming years, the Board supported implementing one specifically - a semi-circle inside which no offensive fouls can be whistled - in time for next season.