In January 2023, Vevey Riviera Basket celebrated the return with great fanfare of its child prodigy Thabo Sefolosha. Nineteen months later, VRB fell back into the throes of Swiss Basketball. Four years after relegation to the third division, already due to liquidity problems in the middle of Covid, here he is back at square one.
The Vaudois club, which had not been granted its A license for the new SB League season, appealed the decision rendered at the beginning of August by the Swiss Basketball Opposition Commission. But this was rejected by the sole arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the hearing which was held this Wednesday between the different parties.
“The decision taken was notified to the parties today,” the CAS informed us Friday mid-morning. The decision rendered by the Swiss Basketball Opposition Commission on August 9, 2024 is therefore confirmed. The reasoned arbitral award will be notified later.”
At the end of August, in a message posted on its social networks, Vevey Riviera Basket said it was “encountering administrative and financial difficulties” and that it wished to initiate conciliation with the Federation. It must be believed that the Galeries du Rivage club has not convinced us that it can provide the necessary guarantees.
“Swiss Basketball, in a desire to support the club, had proposed conciliation before the CAS, accompanied by conditions, particularly financial, to be respected within a given time limit,” the federation communicated on Friday midday. Having been unable to meet the required conditions, Vevey Riviera Basket maintained its request to the CAS, which confirmed the decision to refuse to grant the license for the 2024-2025 season.
The umbrella body of Swiss basketball specifies that according to its regulations, the VRB is automatically relegated to the first national league.
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