VTB United League president Sergey Kushchenko participated in a press conference dedicated to the League’s future plans and collaboration with member clubs during a recent business trip to Riga.
On the VEF vs. CSKA game:
This was a pretty entertaining game, in my opinion. VEF played quality, interesting basketball against one of the top teams in the League and Europe. The execution on the court which I got to see was excellent and the coach made timely adjustments to CSKA’s style of play and substitutions. Congratulations to VEF on the terrific quality of basketball this season, despite missing out on a win today.
On VEF’s future in the League:
VEF isn’t facing any insurmountable challenges at the moment. There are only some technical questions tied to future developments. The League has been discussing these sorts of issues with the rest of the teams on a regular basis.
VEF’s executives have always cared about the VTB United League’s success. Back in 2009, team director Edgars Janups said it’s very easy to spend money, but you also have to make money and strive for financial success. He said that back when the League was in its infancy. Ever since then, Riga has pushed to raise the profile of the League brand in order to maximize its potential earnings. The League’s goal is to earn money, attract sponsors and give clubs the opportunity to compete in a quality competition. We are very invested in the stability of each club. That’s why I want to publicly say once again that we have no issues with VEF. We are in constant communication and only worried about how to attract the most financing possible for the League and clubs in order to develop our project.
On team budgets:
League executives believe that a team’s budget should be at least $3 million in order to sustain a high level of competition. In our opinion, the state of the market today is such that this is the amount necessary to raise a club’s competitive ability. If every club in the VTB United League had this type of minimum budget, the League would become much more competitive. But that’s what we would like to see. We’re trying to help the clubs and encourage local businesses that can invest in sports to favor basketball. Our All-Star Game in Sochi demonstrated that there’s interest in the VTB League. We received a lot of opportunities to connect with new businesses. If we were to receive additional income, our clubs would do even better.
On the calendar and national team windows:
In my opinion, including windows for national team games during the season is an important topic of discussion. National teams should have an opportunity to attract their best players. We need to have productive communication between all the participants in order to reach an acceptable decision.
On the number of teams in the League:
For now, we’ve developed the ideal format to allow teams to play in the League as well as domestic and European competitions. It’s tough to say about next season. Everything depends on the schedule, which depends on many factors: amount of time for qualifying games, European competitions, the already-mentioned national team windows. Most likely, we’ll know by June once we know where European club basketball is headed.
On discussions with clubs and countries that competed in the League:
We have good communication with everyone. We are in talks with the Czech Republic and Poland. There’s also a dialogue with Swedish clubs. Our League is quite open and ready to develop Eastern Europe’s basketball market. We stick to the principle that we will only accept teams that are actually ready, but we never stop communicating. Our hope of resurrecting the pool of teams we once had remains.
On collaborating with the NBA:
Will our clubs play against NBA teams? In order for that to happen, we need to begin organizing an event one, or even two years in advance. The NBA has a very strict schedule for the Global Games. As a Brooklyn representative, I know that we receive our schedule in the Global Games two years out.
On scheduling conflicts:
We could use better communication. The VTB League is always flexible in any difficult situation. We’ve never refused clubs when it was necessary to help them prepare better for national leagues or European competitions. We’ll be very happy if VEF reaches the playoffs, at which point we’ll take into consideration any factors that might cause a scheduling conflict.
