Teams thinned by virus can reschedule: EuroLeague

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) – EuroLeague basketball teams will have more flexibility when their ranks are thinned by coronavirus to reschedule games, helping to avoid lopsided default victories, said officials Monday.

Teams that have fewer than eight eligible players due to COVID-19 will not officially lose their games but can reschedule them, said EuroLeague in a statement.

"In cases where a team does not have eight players who are fit to play due to COVID-19, or the team must quarantine due to positive COVID-19 testing ….the game can be rescheduled up to three times, if there are available dates. In case of no availability of dates or the maximum number of rescheduling’s being reached, the club that caused the original rescheduling will forfeit the game," the league explained.

Last week, both France's ASVEL Basket and Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg cancelled trips abroad for EuroLeague games due to coronavirus cases in their squads.

The EuroLeague Basketball Disciplinary Judge ruled they lost the games with a score of 0-20.

In addition to these teams, some EuroCup games that were canceled for virus-related reasons, including Cedevita Olimpija vs. Turkey’s Frutti Extra Bursaspor, Umana Reyer vs. JL Bourg, and JL Bourg vs. UNICS Kazan, will be played on later dates.