May 25, 2012
Countdown to Final Four begins in Paris
Philippe Ventadour, general director of Paris-Bercy, French Basketball Federation president Yvan Mainini, Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi BertomeuExactly one month before a new Euroleague champion is crowned there, the French capital of Paris was the scene on Friday of a press conference to start the countdown to the 2010 Final Four. A sold-out crowd of 15,700 of the Euroleague's uniquely devoted fans are guaranteed to make Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, the host venue, the focal point of world basketball from May 7 to May 9. Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu on Friday was joined by Yan Mainini, the French Basketball Federation president, and Philippe Ventadour, general director of Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, among other dignitaries from the city government, event partners and host organizer AEG in promising fans in Paris a weekend full of sportsmanship and thrills.

"We are proud to be here," Bertomeu said Friday. "We have wanted to come to Paris for a long time. Today, thanks to the cooperation of the federation, AEG and our other partners, we will make it happen. We wanted especially to show our strong commitment to French basketball and with the cooperation of the national federation, we will be able to do that."

Bertomeu also praised the preparation work being done to have Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy ready to serve fans from around the globe who will be traveling to Paris for the Final Four and an unprecedented world audience watching from afar.

"The French have a great basketball tradition and Bercy is a cathedral of our sport," Bertomeu said. "In Bercy, we will organize a Final Four with unprecedented media coverage, with over 500 journalists from 30 countries present in Paris and broadcasts reaching 191 countries total. We will have 15,700 fans come to the event. One of the modern classics in basketball, Barcelona vs. CSKA, is one of the semifinals. The other, Partizan vs. Olympiacos, will reunite coaches who also faced each other way back in the first Final Four in Europe, in 1988."

The fun on Final Four weekend will not be limited to the basketball arena, however, Bertomeu said.

"We will have more events around the Final Four with the help of our sponsors," he added. "The Nike International Junior Tournament has become a major event of its own. There will be the unveiling of a refurbished public court in the city thanks to the efforts of Mondo and the French federation. We will have our annual awards ceremony at the Hotel de Ville, the city hall. But the main thing we and our visiting fans will have is Paris itself, and just as we know the people here will enjoy our Final Four, our visiting fans will enjoy this great City of Light."
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Euroleague.net
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