At the end of an already very successful season, FC Bayern Basketball received a special kind of motivational boost: The Shareholders Meeting of the EuroLeague confirmed the German Cup winner and EuroLeague quarterfinalist as a new shareholder on Friday evening, making the Munich club the first German club to hold a long-term A-license as a permanent member of the strongest European league. In addition to the FCBB, the second A-License contender, Asvel Villeurbanne from France, was also confirmed as a new member of the elite circle, which previously was comprised of eleven clubs.
"We are very proud and also a little excited to be part of the permanent core of this great competition in the future," said Herbert Hainer, president of FC Bayern München eV, after the welcome news arrived on Friday evening. He continued: "We would like to thank the EuroLeague organization and the Shareholders Board for the trust they have placed in us with this decision. The EuroLeague is undisputedly the highest-quality and most gripping competition on this continent and we are incredibly pleased to be able to prove ourselves on this stage in the long term."
Club boss Hainer: "The highest-quality and most gripping competition".
In addition to club boss Hainer, FCBB Managing Director Marko Pesic, who began his work at the FCBB exactly ten years ago (at that time as Sports Director), was also involved in the intensive talks with the EuroLeague Basketball Organization (EB) in recent months. Following the intensive review process to which the FCBB was subjected and the unanimous vote of the "ECA Shareholders Executive Board", the former German international said: "This is a historic step for us only ten years after basketball at FC Bayern started on the path to professionalization. This is a milestone for us and we thank EuroLeague for the very trustful and open discussions over the past months. We will do our best to further enhance the high reputation of this unique league."
The EuroLeague has existed in its current form since the 2000/2001 season, and so far eleven clubs have had a permanent right to participate, these being FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, ZSKA Moscow, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Baskonia Vítoria, Olimpia Milan, Olympiakos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens from Greece, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zalgiris Kaunas in addition to the current title holder Efes Istanbul. Last season, FC Bayern Basketball was the first German team to reach the playoffs of the top division.
In addition to the clubs mentioned above, EuroCup winners AS Monaco, finalists Unics Kazan and, by wildcard, Adriatic League champions Red Star Belgrade, Zenit St. Petersburg and Alba Berlin will also take part in the EuroLeague in the 2021/2022 season.