May 21, 2013
 
50 YEARS CELEBRATION IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA
CSKA heroes honored
CSKA legends take center stage
A new celebration of 50 Years of European Club Basketball took place in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, November 21, as legends from the great CSKA Moscow teams of yesteryear were honored. Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu was joined by FIBA Europe vice-president and Russian Basketball Federation president Sergey Chernov to begin the proceedings with an award presented to CSKA Moscow president Sergey Kushchenko before the official game tipoff. Sergei Ivanov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, then took presided over a ceremony honoring former players Sergei Belov, Vladimir Tkachenko and Gennady Volnov in memory of their great contributions to the building of CSKA's reputation as one of the greatest basketball clubs in the world. There followed a special presentation made by current CSKA CEO Andrey Vatutin in honor of the late coaching legend Alexander Gomelskiy, whose widow Tatiana and son Vitaliy came to center court to receive the award. "CSKA Moscow has consistently demonstrated that they are able to succeed, not only on the court but off court too, creating a strong bond between all those associated with the club," Bertomeu said at a press conference earlier in the afternoon. "Today we will be commemorating CSKA Moscow for being an example to all the other clubs across Europe."
CSKA CHAMPS

VIDEOS

INTERVIEW: SERGEY BELOV
Sergey Belov
For those not lucky enough to have seen him play, Sergey Belov needs no introduction. He is still considered by experts to be the best Russian player of all-time and one of the best in the world when he dominated European basketball in the late 1960s and 1970s, heling CSKA to win two Euroleague titles in 1969 and 1971.

"I have great memories about this competition. It was a great opportunity to test your skills against the best European teams of that era. Our showdowns against Real Madrid, Ignis Varese or Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv were unbelievable. Not only it was something big for our clubs, but also for our countries."