The participants of the Barcelona meeting

Some of the most important members of Europe's basketball community gathered at Euroleague Basketball headquarters on Wednesday to work together on several issues.

This meeting was attended by Mr. Vassilakopoulos, President of FIBA Europe, Mr. Iliev, Sports Director of FIBA Europe, Mr. Chernov, President of the Russian Basketball Federation, Mr. Lalic, President of the Croatian Basketball Federation, Mr. Maifredi, President of the Italian Basketball Federation, Mr. Mainini, President of the French Basketball Federation, and Mr. Volkov, President of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation. The FIBA Europe Secretary General Nar Zanolin was not able to attend due to health reasons.

The ULEB representatives in attendance were Mr. Portela, President of ULEB, Mr. Bertomeu, CEO of Euroleague Basketball, Ms. Mari, Secretary General of Euroleague Basketball, and Ms. Queralto, Director of Institutional Relations of Euroleague Basketball. The representatives of the Leagues who attended this meeting were Mr. Lorbek, President of the Adriatic Basketball League, Mr. Pommer, Managing Director of the German Basketball League, Mr. Economidis, President of Greece's HEBA, Mr. Bezzecchi, Communications Director of the Italian Lega, and Mr. Senespleda, General Secretary of ACB.

During the meeting, all parties were able to discuss several pending issues, including draw dates and the coordination of calendars so as to not have any conflicts in the European club competitions.

For the 2008-2009 season the participating members in European club competitions will be able to apply the eligibility rules in force in their respective national competitions.

Both FIBA Europe and ULEB agree to create a joint commission to discuss the standardization of the eligibility rules across Europe.

ULEB and FIBA Europe agreed to create and appoint a joint commission to approve the list of referees, including those who would be able to maintain the international license when older than 50 years.

Finally, all parties agreed to work together on a proposal to present to FIBA World seeking to encourage bringing forward the implementation date of the rule changes approved by FIBA last April.