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Russia’s national basketball teams, clubs free to play in Belgrade — Euroleague official

"We in Serbia do not believe in sanctions in sports and think that this is a bad thing," Executive Director of the Euroleague Coaches Council Goran Sasic stressed

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Russia’s national basketball teams as well as clubs are free to hold their official matches in Belgrade, just like Israeli clubs do, Executive Director of the Euroleague Coaches Council Goran Sasic told TASS on Wednesday.

"Partizan played in Fuenlabrada-Spain and the Yugoslav National team in Greece then and we are grateful for that," Sasic said in an interview with TASS.

"We are grateful to the Greek Basketball Federation for helping the Yugoslav national team play and train for three years," he continued. "And we offer Russian clubs and national teams to play and train in Belgrade same as we did with the three Israeli clubs."

"We in Serbia do not believe in sanctions in sports and think that this is a bad thing," Sasic added.

On February 28, 2022, the administration of Euroleague Basketball temporarily suspended all Russian basketball clubs from participating in European tournaments citing Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

On March 22, 2022, the Executive Board of Euroleague Basketball ruled to bar all Russian professional basketball clubs from the 2021/2022 season and to annul all of their previous results.

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