BC Donetsk got wild card to play in VTB United League

The winner of Ukraine basketball championship «Donetsk» was given a wild card and will compete in the VTB United League in the upcoming season. The decision was made by the directorate of the League.

One of the best Ukrainian clubs has already taken part in the competition. It was in the 2009/2010 season when "Donetsk" won three of their six games on the group stage and couldn't make playoffs.

In the next season club will play in pool A facing Russian clubs «Khimki», UNICS, «Spartak», «Krasnye Krylia», Lithuanian «Lietuvos rytas», Ukrainian «Azovmash», Estonian «Kalev», «Turow» of Poland and «Astana» from Kazakhstan.

- We are pleased to welcome back «Donetsk», - general director of the VTB United League Andrey Shirokov said. - The Ukrainian team was not the only one to pretend on this wild card. There were seven requests from six different countries. I would like to apologize for we said "no" to all of them. And I proudly announce, that all the teams that pretend to compete in our League will be able to prove they are powerful enough to join us the next year. That paragraph about teams' rotation was approved by the board of the United VTB League.
«Donetsk» was approved immediately because the Ukraine is a strategic partner of the League. Since the very first edition of the tournament at least two Ukrainian clubs took part in the championship at a time. We are pleased that the tradition will continue in the upcoming season. During last years «Donetsk» has become one of the most dominant teams in the Ukraine. They also claimed their first championship title last year. The club has earned the right to compete in Champions League qualification. It is a very ambitious club with a mature roster that can compete on the highest level in the VTB United League. They will show a solid performance.

- Our team has already took part in that tournament and we know there are only strong teams and the highest level of organization, a the president of «Donetsk» Sergey Dyadechko said. - We haven't considered that we'll take part in such a great championship because of a tough match schedule in the Ukraine. But several changes happened in the Ukrainian Superleague during the last weeks. So we decided to ask the United VTB League for a wild card and sent an official request. We are so pleased the wild card was brought to us so quickly and we are glad to be back. Now we are going to have a successful season in the League.