Containment: the Basketball League will announce at the beginning of the week if the season is suspended

There was to be no debate or suspense.

On May 28, the General Assembly of the Basketball League (LNB) had recorded the non-holding of matches for its Jeep Elite and Pro B championships in the event of a closed session.

Gathered this Friday at noon during a new GA, the clubs should therefore have confirmed this vote and validated the fact of not playing as long as the closed session, imposed by confinement, was in force.

It has not happened.

During discussions that lasted longer than expected, the different parties left without a clear decision.

"It was not stormy but everyone defended their interests, the situation is complex," says a club leader.

Three clubs - Asvel, Boulogne-Levallois and Monaco (which, not being located on French territory, can accommodate the public) - are in favor of continuing the competitions.

Their economic models make them less vulnerable in the event of their inability to welcome the public.

For others, hosting a match without spectators or partners is equivalent to a loss of 100,000 to 180,000 euros per evening.

An impossible situation.

📃 Press release

➡️ The Steering Committee of the National Basketball League met following the speech by the President of the Republic. Https://t.co/Q2cSUcEkxo

- LNB (@LNBofficiel) October 28, 2020

"If we play behind closed doors, half of the clubs will file for bankruptcy before the end of January," said Alain Béral, president of the Basketball League.

Some clubs have started the season in good health but it is not clear how or if they will be able to end it.

We cannot imagine getting involved in this.

The economy of the clubs will be so impacted that, if we accept this to the end, we will disappear.

"

"This situation is absurd"

A concern all the stronger as the clubs would not have the assurance of receiving state aid if they voted to suspend the championship.

"We do not have the same guarantees as in March, April, May and June, that there is aid for unemployment, social charges, which can compensate for a number of things," says Béral.

Today this is not the case.

We are not sure of our activity.

"This situation is absurd, it's like telling restaurants to open but forbid them to receive customers", explains a manager.

In addition, the L'Equipe channel, which broadcasts Jeep Elite matches this season, would like to keep its meetings.

In this period of confinement, sports broadcasts can hope for a wider audience.

At the end of this meeting, the LNB therefore asked the clubs to express themselves again through a vote to know if they accepted:

- The postponement of all matches until the official decision on the aid mechanisms put in place by the State, and possibly until the end of confinement?

- To play a game behind closed doors at home in the next 4 to 6 weeks?

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- To play behind closed doors, at home as well as outside, with the aim of supplying our TV broadcasters, in a period when audiences will climb given the confinement?

Clubs must communicate their answers no later than Monday noon.

The LNB will hold in the wake - Monday or Tuesday - a Steering Committee which will definitively validate the decision to play or to suspend the championships during the confinement.

The Leaders Cup canceled

It is the only certainty of the day.

The Leaders Cup is canceled this season to relieve an already very tense schedule.

This competition had become a regular meeting point for French basketball and since 2013 brought together the best eight teams from the first leg of Jeep Elite at Disneyland Paris.

This is the second major event canceled this season due to the health situation, in September, the League announced the cancellation of the All Star Game.