Following last night's declaration by the World Health Organization that the COVID-19 virus is now a pandemic, Euroleague Basketball has initiated a consultation with its clubs to temporarily suspend its competitions (Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, 7DAYS EuroCup, Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament).

The decision will be communicated later today.

Euroleague Basketball evaluating temporary suspension of its competitions

Euroleague Basketball is constantly monitoring the situation including WHO (World Health Organization) and national administration announcements and recommendations towards the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Euroleague Basketball is also in continuous contact with all 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup teams that are or may be affected by this exceptional situation. Euroleague Basketball has been forced to temporarily suspend the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup games in Italy at least until April 11 and to relocate those games to other territories.

Euroleague Basketball games in Italy to be relocated

Euroleague Basketball is constantly monitoring the situation including WHO (World Health Organization) and national administration announcements and recommendations towards the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Euroleague Basketball is also in continuous contact with all 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup teams that are or may be affected by this exceptional situation. Euroleague Basketball has been forced to temporarily suspend the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup games in Italy at least until April 11 and to relocate those games to other territories.

The following games, which were scheduled to be played in Italy during this period, will be moved to alternate arenas outside of Italy:

* AX Armani Exchange Milan EuroLeague Regular Season Round 29 against Olympiacos Piraeus.

* AX Armani Exchange Milan EuroLeague Regular Season Round 32 against LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne.

* AX Armani Exchange Milan EuroLeague Regular Season Round 34 against CSKA Moscow.

* Segafredo Virtus Bologna EuroCup Quarterfinals Game 2 against AS Monaco.

* Umana Reyer Venice EuroCup Quarterfinals Game 2 against Unicaja Malaga.

Euroleague Basketball will communicate the final venue of each game during the following days.

The evolution of the situation will continue to be monitored with the relevant international and national authorities, as well as with the clubs, and any changes to the above measures will be communicated in due course.

The AX Armani Exchange Milan-Real Madrid game for Round 27 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and the Germani Brescia Leonessa-Umana Reyer Venice game for Round 6 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 will be played behind closed doors.

Milan-Real EuroLeague game, Brescia-Reyer EuroCup game to be played behind closed doors

The AX Armani Exchange Milan-Real Madrid game for Round 27 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and the Germani Brescia Leonessa-Umana Reyer Venice game for Round 6 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 will be played behind closed doors.

Euroleague Basketball has taken this decision based on regulations applying World Health Organization and national administration guidelines that are currently in place in the Lombardy Region of Italy and after consultation with Euroleague Basketball's Medical Officer. To guarantee the safety and security of participating players, coaches and referees, to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and to maintain the regularity of the competition, the home teams have set special health security protocols for the games. No individuals – including fans, VIPs, journalists nor additional club staff members – will be allowed access the arenas. As a result, traditional media availability activities surrounding the game have also been cancelled. Only the minimum necessary individuals – including players, coaching staff, referees, unified scorers, TV production company personnel, arena operations staff and medical staff – will be permitted access to the arenas. Euroleague Basketball will continue to monitor the situation in the Lombardy Region.

The 10 finalists for the Euroleague Basketball 2020 Fan XP Innovation Challenge met in Barcelona on Monday through Wednesday with each of the start-ups eager to impress the jury with their cutting-edge ideas. The 10 finalists all met the challenge's stated goals of offering solutions to create the best fan experience possible in one of three fields: broadcast-related fan engagement; in-arena fan engagement and/or smart arena solutions; and fan engagement through digital platforms.

Edisn.ai wins Jury's Choice, SeatServe chosen for best pitch

The 10 finalists for the Euroleague Basketball 2020 Fan XP Innovation Challenge met in Barcelona on Monday through Wednesday with each of the start-ups eager to impress the jury with their cutting-edge ideas. The 10 finalists all met the challenge's stated goals of offering solutions to create the best fan experience possible in one of three fields: broadcast-related fan engagement; in-arena fan engagement and/or smart arena solutions; and fan engagement through digital platforms.

The first day allowed the finalists to receive mentoring sessions with Euroleague Basketball executives to get first-hand insights from the elite sports sector, private networking opportunities to connect with sports/basketball professionals and jury members.

Barcelona's Roca Gallery hosted the final pitches, which were followed by a pair of panel discussions. The first one was centered on “Disruptive Innovation” in Sports and was formed by Stina Lundgren from the Stockholm School of Economics; Miguel Angel Heras, Head of Marketing and Communication at Roca; Jordi Farré, CEO at Kamleon and Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Senior Director, Marketing and Communication at Euroleague Basketball. The second was focused on "the fan of the future" with Simone Tomassetti, Head of Sports Partnerships - Southern Europe for Twitter; jury member and Eleven Sports CEO Luis Vicente; and Vice President, Rights Acquisition at DAZN, Laura Louisy. Some of the key insights on the panel were the importance of every stakeholder in the sports industry knowing their fans through data collection and analysis. Both panels were moderated by N3xt Sports CEO Mounir Zok.

The finalists, who had already been whittled down from 84 applicants, represented seven countries from three continents. Their pitches were watched closely by 150 selected guests who represented a mix of the Barcelona sports and innovation sectors.

Each of the 10 finalists made a three-minute pitch to the jury and then fielded questions about their product, their history and their roadmap to profitability. The jury’s deliberation resulted in some close calls with more than half of the companies almost tied in points. In the end, Edisn.ai was the Jury's Choice winner and SeatServe was celebrated for best pitch.

**edisn.ai** is an Indian company that created an AI computer vision platform that uses proprietary player recognition technologies to deliver enhanced fan engagement and provide additional monetization opportunities for content owners.

"We are extremely proud and honored to receive the Jury's Award at the Euroleague Basketball FanXP Challenge," edisn.ai CEO Ashok Karanth said. "This recognition from such an esteemed jury is a great boost for us in our journey. Euroleague Basketball has been great in providing us an amazing opportunity to interact with senior executives and work with them on pilot projects."

**SeatServe**, a New York-based company founded by Israelis, provides a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for venues, stadiums and arenas. Its easy-to-use platform enables both in-seat delivery and express pickup services, leading to an increase in revenue and customer satisfaction. Fans can enjoy SeatServe through a web-based app that can also be easily integrated into any team/venue/league app. "We are humbled to be a winner of the Euroleague Basketball's Fan XP challenge this year," Seatserve founder Shay Dadush said. "It is incredible to be working with an organization that pushes innovation to new heights and excited to be working together to bring a better fan experience to the basketball world."

The 10 finalists also participated in different sessions with Euroleague Basketball executives with the aim to design potential future pilot tests to be executed in the future as well as in other ‘coaching’ and ‘networking’ sessions with relevant people in the sports industry, technology and investment.

After the last two editions, Euroleague Basketball has executed numerous pilot tests with many of the former finalists and has nowadays a long-term business relationship with two of them.

Euroleague Basketball wishes to warmly thank jury members Didac Lee, CO-Founder Galdana Ventures; Luis Vicente, Eleven Sports CEO; Stina Lundgren from the Stockholm School of Economics and Sree Varma, Founder & CEO, iSportconnect & iSportconnect Capital, for their time and expertise; partners N3xt sports, LaSalle University and iSportConnect for their support and Roca Gallery for hosting the event.

The Euroleague Basketball Finance Panel has rendered its decision concerning the compliance status of Olympiacos Piraeus with the Financial Stability and Fair Play Regulations (FSFPR).

Euroleague Basketball Finance Panel rules in Olympiacos Piraeus proceeding

The Euroleague Basketball Finance Panel has rendered its decision concerning the compliance status of Olympiacos Piraeus with the Financial Stability and Fair Play Regulations (FSFPR).

The proceeding had been opened on the basis of an alleged infringement of overdue payables, omitting to provide information, and unfulfillment of agreed compliance plans under Articles 32. a), d) and e), respectively, of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code.

The case was referred by the Euroleague Basketball Management Control Commission and had resulted in a transitory ban on Olympiacos from registering new players during a 30-day period while the Finance Panel reviewed the proceeding.

As a result of that review, the Finance Panel has ruled:

1. Olympiacos is responsible for the infringements contemplated by Article 32. a) and d) of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code.

2. Olympiacos is sanctioned with a restriction on the players' expenses as follows:

		* A 7.5% reduction (from 65% to 57.5%) of the permitted gross player salary costs for the 2020-21 EuroLeague season.

		* A 5.0% reduction (from 65% to 60%) of the permitted gross player salary costs for the 2021-22 season.

3. The ban on the registration of players imposed as a provisional measure on 31 January 2020 comes to an end on the date of the present decision, therefore on 25 February 2020.

Following the conclusion of the Panathinaikos OPAP Athens-FC Barcelona game in Round 25 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season in Athens, Greece, two individuals performed a cowardly, criminal attack, smashing a window of the taxi that was transporting the referees from OAKA to their hotel. Fortunately, all three referees, the referee coach and the taxi driver are OK. After the attack, Euroleague Basketball communicated directly with the Hellenic Police, who guaranteed the safety and security of the referees until they departed from Greece.

Euroleague Basketball statement regarding cowardly, criminal attack against referees

Following the conclusion of the Panathinaikos OPAP Athens-FC Barcelona game in Round 25 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season in Athens, Greece, two individuals performed a cowardly, criminal attack, smashing a window of the taxi that was transporting the referees from OAKA to their hotel. Fortunately, all three referees, the referee coach and the taxi driver are OK. After the attack, Euroleague Basketball communicated directly with the Hellenic Police, who guaranteed the safety and security of the referees until they departed from Greece.

Euroleague Basketball would like to state that:

* Euroleague Basketball and all participating clubs condemn violent acts of any shape or form, and will continue to apply a zero-tolerance policy.

* Euroleague Basketball will support the police investigation into the attack. Should the two individuals be identified, they will be banned for life from attending any Euroleague Basketball game/event, without prejudice to any additional legal proceedings.

* Euroleague Basketball will support the three referees and referee coach in any further action they take.

Euroleague Basketball will continue to promote a healthy, friendly and relaxed environment, in which all games of its competitions must take place, with safety and security provided for visiting teams, referees and all other accredited personnel.

Euroleague Basketball will seek the cooperation of the clubs and the local authorities to prevent any such incidents in the future. Whilst the attack is unprecedented in the 20-season history of Euroleague Basketball, should a similar incident occur again within the territory of Greece, this would signify that a safe and secure environment for the visiting teams, referees and all other accredited personnel cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, Euroleague Basketball will immediately evaluate relocating all further EuroLeague, EuroCup and U18 Tournament games outside of Greece.

The Euroleague Basketball family is in mourning for one of its cherished members. Selver Dzigal died in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday. He had recently turned 36 years old and is survived by his wife Jasmina. Selver was a highly respected member of the Euroleague Basketball Competitions Department, where he worked since 2007.

Euroleague Basketball mourns Selver Dzigal

The Euroleague Basketball family is in mourning for one of its cherished members. Selver Dzigal died in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday. He had recently turned 36 years old and is survived by his wife Jasmina. Selver was a highly respected member of the Euroleague Basketball Competitions Department, where he worked since 2007.

"We will all remember Selver for the goodness that he shared unequivocally with everyone that he came across, using his wonderful sense of humour whenever possible," Eduard J. Scott, Euroleague Basketball Chief Operations Officer, said. "His personality lit up the room even on dark days, with today being the darkest for his former colleagues and friends. Selver was an esteemed colleague and an unforgettable friend. They say that life's journey is about the people who touch us. Selver left such a positive impact on all of us that it is our responsibility to honour his legacy, sharing the love with which he filled our hearts. We send our deepest condolences to Jasmina, his family and everyone in the basketball community who had the pleasure of knowing Selver."

During the course of his time at Euroleague Basketball, Selver was responsible for managing the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the 7DAYS EuroCup and the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

"We at Euroleague Basketball have heavy hearts right now, because a great young man has gone from us much too soon," Jordi Bertomeu, President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball, said. "A consummate professional with endless generosity of spirit, Selver was more than a co-worker to us. We will miss him every day."

A native of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Selver was introduced to the sport of basketball as a youngster in Sarajevo, then together with his mother and sisters briefly relocated to Zaragoza, Spain at age eight. He continued his dedication to basketball after returning to the Bosnian capital, but by age 15 was back in Spain having signed with FC Barcelona. He played in several youth categories at the club, winning the Spanish national U16 title. He went on to play senior basketball for clubs including Sabadell, Sant Cugat and Mollet, amongst others, always in Spain. At age 23, Selver joined Euroleague Basketball, where he worked until his untimely passing.

A group of 10 ambitious and forward-thinking startups from around the world have been selected as finalists for the Euroleague Basketball 2020 Fan XP Innovation Challenge.

Euroleague Basketball announces Fan XP Challenge finalists

A group of 10 ambitious and forward-thinking startups from around the world have been selected as finalists for the Euroleague Basketball 2020 Fan XP Innovation Challenge.

A jury of global tech business professionals chose the finalists from among 80 aspirants from 17 different countries who applied to meet the challenge's stated goals of offering solutions to create the best fan experience possible in one of three fields: broadcast-related fan engagement; in-arena fan engagement and/or smart arena solutions; and fan engagement through digital platforms.

The 10 finalists, hailing from seven countries on three continents, will present their projects at 4YFN, the startup exhibition of the MWC, with more than 25,000 attendees, from February 24 to 26 in Barcelona, Spain.

The EB 2020 Fan XP finalists are:

* Edisn of India is an AI computer vision platform that uses proprietary player recognition technologies to deliver enhanced fan engagement and provide additional monetization opportunities for content owners.

* Stadiugraph of Italy is a free app that enables fans to crowd-source and perform mosaic choreographies within minutes after being designed and approved by the majority of the supporters.

* watafan from Spain offers sports stars the tools to create their own digital and gamified autographs that may be distributed from mobile to mobile by reading a QR code instead of a pen, guaranteeing collectible value for their scarcity and exclusivity.

* StriveCloud from Belgium is a competitive gamification platform that attracts, connects and retains new fans by activating static customer service management (CRM) data through game mechanics and motivational psychology.

* Pressenger of Hungary helps apps interact with fans to visually communicate results and highlights; interactively share promotions, contests and quizzes; welcome fans to the arena; and send reminders about events and breaking news; among other innovations.

* SeatServe, from the United States, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that enables fans to use in-seat delivery and express pickup services at arenas, leading to an increase in revenue and customer satisfaction.

* Piing, from the United Kingdom, is a digital platform that uses massively multiplayer games to turbo-boost fan engagement. Whole crowds join in games on a big screen, using their phones as controllers, boosting atmosphere and the fan experience.

* YBVR of Spain offers interactive and immersive content for fans to engage in at home, at the arena or on the go. No longer will fans need to be physically present at a game to experience the magic of "being there"!

* Vogo of France distributes live and replayed audio and video to spectators in arenas, transforming their game experience by providing multi-camera content on demand on tablets and smartphones, irrespective of the number of people connected.

* ViciTV, from the United States, turns existing fan engagement investments by clubs into a global sports TV network, giving franchises the ability to control and personalize the gameday experience for out-of-market fans.

At the Euroleague Basketball 2020 Fan XP Innovation Challenge, the finalists will be able to present their pitches in a public session at the 4YFN conference, where a jury formed by top sports, tech, innovation, and investment specialists will select the winning startups.

4YFN is the world's most influential startup business platform enabling startups, investors and corporations to create, discover and launch new ventures together. Held alongside MWC, 4YFN is the forum for entrepreneurship.

As part of its commitment to providing fans with the best possible atmosphere to enjoy Euroleague Basketball games across the continent, a new Reporting Hub has been launched to allow supporters to share any inappropriate incidents they may witness inside arenas.

Euroleague Basketball launches Reporting Hub to maximize fan enjoyment

As part of its commitment to providing fans with the best possible atmosphere to enjoy Euroleague Basketball games across the continent, a new Reporting Hub has been launched to allow supporters to share any inappropriate incidents they may witness inside arenas.

The introduction of the Reporting Hub comes after Euroleague Basketball's launch at the beginning of the season of a new In-Arena Code of Conduct, which is applicable to every individual inside the venue. The code emphasizes the importance of respecting players, officials and other fans alike, making it clear that threatening or abusive behavior will not be tolerated.

The Reporting Hub will be available through the official website, and will mean that all individuals attending games are free to discreetly report any issues they see pertaining to the In-Arena Code of Conduct.

Euroleague Basketball and its clubs feel strongly that customer experience is a key factor in improving the enjoyment of the overall product, and are committed to working together to uphold the In-Arena Code of Conduct.

Any reports received will be shared directly with the home club, under the supervision of Euroleague Basketball.