Jordi Bertomeu: 'It's not our fault if NBA exists, FIBA treats players in two different ways'

In an interview with Italian newspaper 'Il Corriere della Sera', Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu talked about the situation between Euroleague and FIBA. Bertomeu stressed out the fact that the current situation of tension it's a FIBA's responsibility and Euroleague is not to blame:

"FIBA decided to create a new schedule for NT without finding an agreement with clubs and most importantly ignoring the existence of a third party, the NBA. In the United States there are 108 international players, none of them will play in World Cup qualifiers. This thing is unacceptable for two reasons: first of all, the level of the games won't be the same without top 108 players. In football, no one would imagine Portugal playing without Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina without Lionel Messi, while in basketball that's exactly what's going to happen. The National teams will play the qualifiers without their best players, lowering the level of the games. The second problem is that FIBA, acting in this way, is trying to create two different categories of players. For example, in Italy Danilo Gallinari is considered like a Level A players because he's not obligated to answer to the NT call-up, while Gigi Datome is considered as Level B players because from Istanbul if he says that he's not gonna play, he's a bad guy. FIBA treats players in two different ways and that's not acceptable."

"FIBA said that Euroleague only thinks about business? But let me explain one thing, let's say that Spain and France won't be able to qualify for the World Cup, you really think that FIBA is not gonna offer them wild cards receiving tons of money from the federations? So what are we talking about?"