Will the basketball championship be decided on the same day as the opening match of the European Football Championship? Bayern boss Hainer criticizes the league for this. There is also a report about the departure of a star
Bayern Munich’s club president Herbert Hainer has criticized the German Basketball League (BBL) for its scheduling of the final series. If there is to be a fourth game in the duel between FC Bayern and Alba Berlin, this is scheduled for next Friday – the same day as the opening game of the European Football Championship in Munich. “The European Championship game has been scheduled for more than a year – what was the BBL thinking, didn’t anyone notice that in the planning?” asked Hainer in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.
Minimal leeway: BBL under deadline stress
However, the BBL had hardly any leeway when it came to scheduling: Due to the World Cup in late summer last year and the upcoming Olympic preparations for Paris, the season had to be squeezed into a tight schedule. The maximum of five games in the final series will therefore take place in an exhausting two-day rhythm. After all, game four has been scheduled for 6 p.m. and could therefore be over before the kick-off of the European Championship match between Germany and Scotland (9 p.m.).
Hainer said that he himself would have a “time conflict” with a possible game four – he would either have to do without the basketball final or the European Football Championship opener. His players can avoid this predicament by winning game two on Monday and game three on Wednesday in Berlin (both at 8.30 p.m./Dyn) after the 79:67 win in the first final duel and celebrating the championship title ahead of time.
Report on Ibaka’s departure
One of the Munich team’s guarantors of success is former NBA champion Serge Ibaka. Hainer hopes to be able to keep the Spanish center beyond the season and is counting on the environment at Bayern. “I have a good feeling that he will stay with us,” said the club president. However, the Spanish basketball portal Encestando.es reported on Sunday that Ibaka (34) had agreed a transfer with Real Madrid in the summer. He had already played in the Spanish capital in 2011.