MEETING BETWEEN UE COMMISSIONER FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE Mme. VIVIANE REDING AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF ULEB/EUROLEAGUE

A meeting in the office of the European Commission between Mme. Viviane Reding and the representatives of ULEB/Euroleague was held this morning in Brussels.

Eduardo Portela, President of ULEB, explained the Commissioner all the details regarding ULEB history, the recent creation of the Euroleague project and the current delicate situation of European basketball.

Mr. Portela was sitting at the table with other members of ULEB (Portuguese and Belgian leagues and delegation documents from Italian and Greek leagues), as well as Mr. Jordi Bertomeu, C.E.O. of Euroleague Basketball.

Mme. Reding has declared that the position of the Commission is to respect the freedom and autonomy of sports organizations in order to decide upon their own way of getting organized, the only limit being within and respecting the community laws.

The Commission would be in favor of maintaining the pyramid model, within which professional sports has to maintain a specific role, being at the same time solidary with the amateur sports.

The aforementioned principles will be discussed in another meeting in Lille with all European sports federations as well, where Mme. the Commissioner is going to pronounce herself on this delicate situation, once again emphasizing the possible positive aspect of the negotiation.

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