Russian basketball league BEKO PBL joins ULEB

BEKO Professional basketball league (PBL) has become member of the Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB), according to the official website of the Russian league. This decision has been made today at the ULEB Assembly in Barcelona.

Eduardo Portela, president of the ULEB and head of the Spanish ACB, and Andrey Vatutin, chairman of the Council of BEKO PBL, have signed the agreement according to which the Russian league became 16th officially recognized professional league in Europe.

According to Andrey Vatutin the accession to the ULEB is an historical event for Russian basketball. «Back when the PBL was established we received complete support from the Russian Ministry of Sports, Euroleague and the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, so the accession to the ULEB for us was just a matter of time. It took us a year to complete the necessary legal and procedural formalities.»

«This recognition is an evidence of our considerable international status, because the Russian league never before had been member of the ULEB, which had a poor influence on the political positions of our basketball,» stated Vatutin according to the official site of BEKO PBL.

Being established in 1991, the ULEB includes 14 national leagues – England, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, France, Czech Republic and Switzerland, as well as one regional league, the Adriatic League, for the professional clubs from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro and Czech Republic.