VTB United League honorary president Sergey Ivanov spoke with the media following the League Board meeting in Moscow.
About the past season: The 16th VTB United League Board meeting has come to an end. There was a lively discussion about the championship results, which was interesting, exciting and spectacular. The strongest team won. Many traditions were upheld. The winner of the regular season did not win the Belov Cup. CSKA proved to be slightly stronger in a very serious rivalry with Zenit in the Finals and secured win at home, which had not happened for a very long time.
About the participants: Next season, we will have 11 clubs participating. Astana has left the competition, but will remain in the Youth League. The Belarusian and Kazakh teams, MINSK and Astana, will participate in the VTB Youth League.
About the format, the refusal to play in the play-in and 3rd place series: 4 rounds, twice at home, twice on the road. The clubs decided not to hold a play-in next season. This is their decision, because the League exists for the clubs and they decide the most important issues themselves. And so the clubs voted not to have play-in. Straight to the Playoffs, 8 teams. There was a long discussion about the 3rd place series. This is due to the well-known logistical problems in Krasnodar, although we do not know who will play for the bronze. But we can assume, and we are unlikely to be wrong, that it will be one of the leading Russian clubs — we just don’t know which one. All these clubs are roughly equal, and anyone can win or lose in the Semifinals. In the end, they voted to keep the series at best of three.
