Dimitris Giannakopoulos said CSKA, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos represent European basketball. CSKA was suspended from the competition in the 2021-22 season, and the sanctions have been extended several times.
Giannakopoulos made the call in a post on Instagram, which is owned by Meta, an organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia. He wrote that a true European champion cannot be determined without CSKA, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos.
Russian clubs were excluded from the EuroLeague during the 2021-22 season after Russia invaded Ukraine. Their exclusion has since been extended several times. The Panathinaikos owner’s statement does not mean CSKA has been readmitted to the competition.
The Moscow club has won the EuroLeague four times this century, in 2006, 2008, 2016 and 2019. It also won four European titles in the 1960s and 1970s, when the competition was organized under the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Giannakopoulos spoke a day after a EuroLeague summit in Cernobbio, Italy. On October 6, clubs approved a plan to expand the tournament from 20 to 24 teams and unanimously rejected the NBA’s proposal to merge the competition with a new continental league.