Belgrade hosts the Russians first, and then the EuroLeague Final Four

It looks like the Russian teams will move to Belgrade to play their home games until the end of the regular season of this year’s EuroLeague. The decision will be made on Monday, while the organizers announced at the first meeting of the 18 teams that the home games of the Russian clubs would be moved to neutral ground.

Meanwhile, the capital of Serbia is expected to host this year’s Final Four after Germans doubted the presence of the people and the vaccines.

Let’s take them in turn.

The war in Ukraine after the Russian invasion pushes the three Russian clubs (CSKA Moscow, Unics Kazan and Zenit) out of Russia. Although at the previous meeting they tried to convince the others that “Nothing happens in the country and life goes on as normal“, playing at home was impossible for obvious reasons. Belgrade qualified from the start, the teams have already spoken to the Serbs and everything indicates that all three will go there.

Fifteen games remain at the end of the regular season with the Russians at home. Essentially 13 as the two (Zenit-Kazan and Zenit-CSKA Moscow) have no reason to be led on neutral ground and will usually take place in St. Petersburg. There is information that Zenit is considering awarding the match with Panathinaikos to OAKA, but it has not been confirmed.

So they search for a roof of thirteen toys. Her CSKA with Real (4/3), Monaco (17/3), Zalgiris (25/3), Basconia (7/4) and Barcelona (date to be determined), Unics Kazan with Villeurbanne (3/3), Maccabi (7/3), Panathinaikos (24/3) and Fener (31/3) and zenith with Villeurbanne (1/3), Panathinaikos (11/3), Zalgiris (8/4) and Barcelona on a date to be determined. To ensure that the program runs smoothly, the dates can of course change, as the home games take place in the middle. Red Starbut also her partisan (in the Eurocup). It is noted that the neutral seat is also sought Locomotive Kuban play in the Eurocup

As for the Final Four? He is moving permanently from Berlin to Belgrade, even a week earlier (May 20-22). The Germans could not – due to Covid – guarantee people’s attendance, but also approval of any vaccines that might have been made by some participants. In Serbia, on the other hand, there is no such problem, so the decision to hold the top event in the Stark Arena should be taken for granted.

The squeak of war

The war in Ukraine is also tearing the players’ relations with Russian teams. Sabaz Napier has already left Zenit and Mindaugas Kuzminskas is packing his bags while Arturas Gudaitis is yet to be known. The Lithuanians, who traditionally live on the opposite bank from the Russians, were among the first to resist, and Zalgiris even chose not to play against the Russian teams.

This, of course, indicates the zeroing of the Kaunas team and a fine, since the Russian clubs were not excluded from the event (after all, such a decision was not made in any sport).

At CSKA Moscow, Georgian Toko Sengelia put the Ukrainian flag on his social media account but didn’t say he was leaving Russia like many thought. Nikos Varlas, an executive of the office that represents him in the market, made a statement while CSKA’s players and staff met with Andrei Vatutin on Sunday to discuss the situation.

Let’s not forget that CSKA is the army group currently invading Ukraine.

Of course, the fact that players leave their teams and are tied to a contract does not mean that they are automatically fired.