As though there were any doubt that the global economic crisis is affecting professional sports worldwide, FIBA Europe today brings news that confirms fears.
The association today announced that no smaller a force than CSKA Moscow has pulled its women’s team from participation in Euroleague Women for the 2009-2010 season, citing financial difficulties. The top ranking team not involved in the tournament, Wisła Can-Pack of Poland, will be taking CSKA’s spot in Group B.
Group B now consists of Wisła, Gospic Croatia Osiguranje Wisła, MiZo Pécs, Beretta Famila Schio, Halcon Avenida, and ESB Villeneuve d’Ascq Lille Metropole.
Despite CSKA’s prestigious standing in women’s basketball, this marks the second occasion in short time for the Russian team to find Euroleague ball too pricy: In late 2008, the team forfeited one league game and nearly had to pull out but was saved by an appeal from the Russian basketball federation and a 13th-hour sponsorship deal.
Tags: Beretta Famila Schio, ESB Villeneuve d'Ascq Lille Metropole, FIBA, FIBA Euroleague Women, Gospic Croatia Osiguranje Wisła, Halcon Avenida, MiZo Pécs, Wisla Can-Pack
[...] CSKA Moscow bails out of 2009-10 Women’s Euroleague [...]
[...] this edition’s Cinderella story; thanks to the CSKA Moscow club’s financial difficulties, the ladies’ Red Army team had to drop out of the 2009-10 season just before it began. Enter Krakow, originally slated for Eurocup Women play and consequently [...]
[...] contrast, Wisla started 2009-10 not even a member of the Euroleague Women competition, and only by dint of CSKA Moscow’s financial troubles was the Polish side granted a bid. Since entering the field, Wisla has done nothing but kick ass [...]
[...] Can-Pack, meanwhile, has been the talk of Euroleague Women 2009-10 since week one and the team’s last-minute inclusion in the competition. All they did thereafter was go 8-0, extended that mark to 10-2, and made relatively easy work of [...]
[...] would be both disservice and massive understatement. The compressed version goes something like: team joins Euroleague Women at last minute thanks to some schadenfreude gifted by CSKA Moscow; teams goes 8-0, extends mark to 10-2; in [...]