Turkish clubs Fenerbahce Beko and Besiktas are the two foreign participants in the VTB United League SuperCup, which will be on September 21-24 in Moscow at the VTB Arena.
Also the six best teams of the United League according to the results of last season will play in the upcoming tournament – UNICS, Lokomotiv Kuban, CSKA, Zenit, Pari Nizhny Novgorod and MBA.
Sergey Kushchenko, VTB United League president,
– The SuperCup is the first official tournament of the new 2023/24 season. And we are ready to announce two foreign participants of the upcoming SuperCup – famous Turkish teams Fenerbahce Beko and Besiktas.
Also, the new format of the tournament will feature the six best teams of the League previous season and two Turkish clubs.
Fenerbahce – a regular Euroleague participant with a huge fan base, it is one of the strongest clubs in Europe, which is headed by the VTB League’s best winning coach Dimitris Itoudis, who worked in CSKA from 2014 to 2022. Besiktas is a EuroCup participating club, which is also very well known to everyone on the international stage.
We hope that everyone will see and hear the famous Turkish fans, who always actively support their teams on the road.
Last year, Serbian teams Mega MIS and Partizan NIS with legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic played in the SuperCup, for which we thank them very much. This year the level of foreign teams is at least as good – Fenerbahce and Besiktas are carefully planning their preseason schedule and consider our tournament as an important part of their preparation for the Euroleague, EuroCup and national championships.
FENERBAHCE
Founded: 1913
City: Istanbul, Turkey
Colors: yellow, blue
Achievements: Euroleague champion (2017), 13-time Turkish champion, 7-time Turkish Cup winner, 7-time Turkish Super Cup winner
Famous players: Kostas Slukas, Nando De Colo, Bojan and Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Kalinic, Pero Antic, Nikolo Melli, Jan Vesely, Oguz Savas, Emir Preldzic, Omer Onan, Omer Asik, Luigi Datome, Bobby Dixon, Marko Guduric, Melih Mahmutoglu, Mirsad Turkan
Head coach: Dimitris Itoudis
Fenerbahce is one of the leaders of European basketball. Over the past 8 years, the Istanbul team has reached the Euroleague Final Four 5 times, and in 2017 became the first Turkish team to win the tournament. In addition, Fenerbahce is one of the best teams in the history of Turkey: 13 championship titles and 16 silver medals, 7 wins each in the Cup and Super Cup.
The team is led by no less titled coach, well known to all basketball fans – Dimitris Itoudis. The Greek coach led CSKA from 2014 to 2022 and together with the Army team became 6-time United League champion. In addition, Itoudis is the best winning coach in the VTB League history: he led CSKA to 225 wins in 261 games. In 2023, Dimitris was introduced to the League Hall of Fame. In September, Itoudis will return to Moscow and try to win another trophy, but now with his club from Turkey.
BESIKTAS
Founded: 1967
City: Istanbul, Turkey
Colors: black, white
Achievements: 2-time champion of Turkey (1975, 2012), winner of the Turkish Cup (2012), winner of the FIBA Challenge Cup (2012).
Famous players: Allen Iverson, Deron Williams, Ryan Brockhoff, D.J. Stroberry, Fedor Likholitov, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Carlos Arroyo, Maciej Lampe
Head coach: Dusan Alimpijevic
In the entire 56-year history of the club, Besiktas only spent one season not in Turkey’s elite division – it happened back in 1988. The Istanbul team won the national championship twice – in 1975 and 2012, as well as 7 times reached the final of the tournament. Besiktas got the right to participate in the Euroleague and in the season 2012/13 reached the Top 16.
There are many big names in Besiktas history. Allen Iverson finished his career here, Ryan Brockhoff started his journey, Deron Williams came here during the lockout. In addition, famous players such as Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Carlos Arroyo and Maciej Lampe have played for Besiktas.
In the 2023/24 season, Besiktas will be one of the 20 teams that will play in the EuroCup. The Turkish club will led by Dusan Alimpijevic, a young Serbian coach who is known in the United League for his work in Avtodor. After parting ways with the Saratov team, Dusan coached Turkish Bursaspor for 3 seasons and became the coach of the year in EuroCup, and this summer he accepted an offer from Besiktas.
Tickets for SuperCup 2023 will be available soon.
