While Paris Basketball was due to host Fenerbahçe this Thursday at 8:30 p.m., as part of the 17th day of the Euroleague, the meeting was postponed to a later date, the Parisian club being notably the victim of an epidemic in its ranks. Explanations on this decision.
The match of the 17th day of the Euroleague between Paris Basketball and Fenerbahçe, scheduled for this Thursday (8:30 p.m.), has been postponed to a later date. The fault lies in “an insufficient number of players available within the Parisian squad”, announced Paris Basketball, regretting “unforeseen circumstances, linked to injuries and unavailability, do not allow the club to have a full complement to ensure the meeting in optimal conditions”.
Not enough to convince Evan Fournier, Olympic vice-champion with the Blues and fullback of Olympiacos, currently third in the Euroleague behind Paris Basketball, who released on his social networks: “Each team plays every evening against illness and injuries. If you can’t show up with enough players to compete, you should lose the match. When you cancel the match, you allow teams to manipulate the rules and that becomes dangerous. This is just my opinion. “
So is the postponement of this match justified? The Euroleague rules are simple. If a team is unable to field eight names on a match sheet, then a discussion is initiated with the team to postpone the match. This is what happened this Thursday morning, a package having never been considered and contrary to the laws of European competition. The Parisian club’s doctors diagnosed a moving virus in several players, some of whom were already affected during the match against Real Madrid on Tuesday, and sent the supporting documents to the Euroleague doctor.
A different regulation in the championship
The Turkish club was informed of the inability of Paris Basketball to field eight players at the end of the morning by the Euroleague, which was awaiting confirmation from its doctor of the correct receipt of the documents in order to communicate on an official postponement of the meeting . This happened before noon, the Fenerbahçe players not having completed their training scheduled between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. knowing that the evening meeting would be postponed… to a later date that is difficult to find.
For the upcoming matches, however, the regulations are not the same because they will be championship matches, two in as many days, at the LDLC Arena of ASVEL on Sunday (4:30 p.m.) then the Limoges reception Monday (7 p.m.). According to the Betclic Elite regulations, a team must be able to field at least five professional players in order to maintain its rank. The squad can then be supplemented by hopefuls already registered on the Betclic Elite list.
If Paris proves unable to present five professional players on Sunday against ASVEL, then the match will initially be left in suspense… before a legal and disciplinary commission to determine whether it should be postponed or whether Paris is declared forfeit, thus ceding victory to his opponent.
