The Euroleague HUb in Sopron begins in two weeks, before which an online press conference was held on Monday morning with the participation of secretary of state dr. Tünde Szabó representing the Government of Hungary, Ferenc Szalay, the president of the Hungarian basketball Federation, Szabolcs Csiszár, the vice mayor of Sopron MJV and Zoltán Török the managing director of the host Sopron Basket.
Dr. Tünde Szabó greeted those present first, including a big number of press representatives. In her speech she emphasized that it is crucial even in this pandemic situation to provide the athletes with the opportunity to compete under serious restrictions. The Euroleague group will be organized along these lines, with the assured support of the Hungarian government. She recalled the prestigious events of recent years in Sopron, the outstanding results of our club, which have put the federation, the town and the club on the top drawer on international level. "We trust their expertise, and their skills! We wish them the best of luck!" she added.
Ferenc Szalay the president of the Hungarian Basketball Federation called the bubble system a great challenge, which is also a good opportunity for the federation to test the system ahead of the future. "Keeping the culture and sports alive is extremely important! We shouldn't set goals in numbers, but we should aim to survive. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event reality." concluded Ferenc Szalay.
Representing Sopron MJV vice mayor
Szabolcs Csiszár highlighted that sport has always been given big support, and by hosting such outstanding international events we have already won. "The bubble system is a special circumstance, but we have great experts, and we will give them all the help needed from the background to be able to speak of a successful event afterwards!"
Zoltán Török, the managing director of our club has first thanked everyone who contributed to winning the application. "We will need all the experience and expertise of recent years to keep the reputation of our nation up to our standards and bring joy to the Hungarian sports enthusiasts with a good result. our managing director highlighted, who has also provided some interesting data: We are working with a 23-person staff to serve our 100 guests. 243 people will get into voluntary quarantine, and about 1100 tests will be done during the HUB so that we can conclude a safe, and world class event even under such changed circumstances.
Besides praising our opponents it was also said regarding our own team that everyone has been through the illness already, and except for Betti Határ, in case of whom we have prevented the occurrence of some serious complications that would result in a tragic outcome thanks to thinking ahead, we can get into the tournament with an almost complete roster. "We are trying to live up to the trust we were given by great enthusiasm and by putting all of our experience and knowledge in!" concluded Zoltán Török.
M4 Sport will broadcast all of our team's games live, but the rest of the games will also be available via the Euroleague YouTube channel, and on the foreign tv channels that bought the license to broadcast.
The schedule of the tournament which will take place behind closed doors will be as follows:
Tuesday, December 1st
18.00 Bourges Basket – Sopron Basket
21.00 Galatasaray – Basket Landes
Thursday, December 3rd
18.00 Sopron Basket - Galatasaray
21.00 Basket Landes – Bourges Basket
Friday, December 4th
16.30 Basket Landes – Sopron Basket
19.30 Bourges Basket - Galatasaray