MIES (Basketball Champions League) - Five of the six national federations that have clubs playing in the Adriatic League (ABA) met with FIBA officials at the House of Basketball on Monday to discuss the future of European club competitions, particularly in the Balkan peninsula.

Representatives from the national federations of Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD), Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia held talks with FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann and FIBA Executive Director (Europe) Kamil Novak, particularly about what lies ahead for the sport in the region. Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's federation were unable to attend.

The national federations present were given a full brief on the Basketball Champions League - which will be launched in Paris on 21 March and tip off next season - and expressed their interest in being a part of it.

All parties look forward to the new competition getting underway and, alongside the Adriatic League (ABA) and the region's national competitions, experiencing huge success.

For the Serbian representatives, the visit to the House of Basketball also presented them with an opportunity to provide a status update on their organisation of one of the three 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) in Belgrade from 4-9 July which will qualify one team to the Rio 2016 Games. The Draw Ceremony for the Olympic Basketball Tournaments (Men and Women) will take place on Friday at FIBA's headquarters, as announced on Monday.

FIBA