MIES, Switzerland (Basketball Champions League) – The first Club Council of the Basketball Champions League held on Friday its inaugural meeting at the House of Basketball.

The Club Council will serve as the body where clubs address key issues relating to the development of the Basketball Champions League and the future of the club competition landscape in Europe. Its purpose is to create a forum where opinions can be directly discussed and challenges shared with a view to playing an active role and making pertinent recommendations to the Board of the Basketball Champions League, where clubs hold 50% of the seats through their leagues, and to other institutional bodies.

"As a truly inclusive event, the Basketball Champions League is a competition organized by and for the clubs, and our constant aim is to service them at the highest level. I am delighted by the decision of our Board to create this Club Council, which will allow us to grasp the opinion of the clubs and will certainly help us to develop our competition further," said Patrick Comninos, CEO of the Basketball Champions League.

The Club Council will include representatives from clubs that have demonstrated consistency in their participation in the Basketball Champions League and, at the same time, performed exceptionally in their domestic leagues. The above criteria recognize a fundamental value for the Basketball Champions League: results on the court is what matters the most in basketball.

Membership to the Club Council for the 2017-18 season includes (in alphabetical order):

• AEK (GRE)
• Besiktas Sompo Japan (TUR)
• CEZ Nymburk (CZE)
• EWE Baskets Oldenburg (GER)
• Iberostar Tenerife (ESP)
• Neptunas Klaipeda (LTU)
• Oostende (BEL)
• SIG Strasbourg (FRA)
• Stelmet Enea Zielona Gora (POL)
• Umana Reyer Venezia (ITA)