Dubai is negotiating for a franchise based in the emirate to eventually join the competition

Dubai is in negotiations with the Euroleague for a franchise based in the emirate to eventually join the flagship European basketball competition, Emirati businessman and club owner Abdallah al- Nabudah.

«Negotiations with the Euroleague began eight months ago, aimed at including a club from Dubai in the prestigious tournament and hosting some matches in the cityat the Coca Cola Arena (17,000 seats), said Mr. al-Naboudah, president of the newly created Dubai Basketball Club and former vice-president of the Golf Association.

«There is nothing official yet, negotiations are continuing” most “the first signals are positiveadded Mr. al-Naboudah. The businessman nevertheless denied information reported by certain European media according to which Dubai had offered 50 to 60 million euros to associate the name of the local airline company (Emirates Airlines) with the competition.

«We haven’t talked about naming rights since the championship has a commercial partner (Turkish Airlines) until 2025“, assured Mr. al-Naboudah. The Euroleague had previously confirmed discussions for a “potential collaborationwith Mr. al-Naboudah and representatives of the emirate, as part of a visit to Dubai on October 11. The 13 shareholder clubs of the Euroleague, a league closed by invitation, then went to the United Arab Emirates.

«We invited the Euroleague and the clubs to Dubai to discuss and propose the idea of ​​a future collaboration, as well as to show them our capabilities on the pitchsaid Abdallah al-Naboudah, emphasizing the interestto include a club from Dubai in the second most important competition in the world of basketball after the American championship (NBA)“. The capital of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, hosted the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks in October for two NBA preseason matches.

«Of course, we are excited about the potential for a Euroleague basketball in the United Arab Emirates, but it is still too early to go into details.“, said for his part the CEO of the Euroleague, Marshall Glickman, in a press release after the meeting of October 11.

«We look forward to further discussion“, he added.

The growing investment of the Gulf countries in the world of sport has drawn much criticism from human rights organizations, which accuse them of “sport washing“. The Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are all hosting Formula 1 Grands Prix this year, while Qatar is preparing to host the FIFA World Cup (November 20-December 18).

The Saudi kingdom also hosted the LIV Golf circuit this year, which poached some of the best players in the world with record prices, angering the historic golf authorities.