A trip to the world: the winner of the ECL will receive a place in the FIBA Masters 2026

The leadership of the United Continental 3x3 Basketball League (ECL) has managed to reach an agreement with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) that the winner and runners-up of the seventh season of the ECL 3x3 will receive a direct ticket to the FIBA 3x3 Challenger & Masters 2026 is the main international start of the year in this sport. This was announced by ECL General Manager Alexander Fomin. Read more about the important decision for 3x3 basketball, as well as about the specifics of the new tournament draw, which is expected to be attended by the world's leading clubs, in the Izvestia article.

From Argentina to Switzerland

The United Continental League of the ECL (until 2022 it was called the United League of Europe) was created by the famous basketball referee Sergey Fomin and ex-CSKA and Ural-Great player Alexander Fomin in 2018. The tournament management and team introduced many innovations and innovations to 3x3 basketball, making it as competitive as possible for the classical basketball audience. For example, they were among the first to use a cube-shaped LED screen with high-quality resolution, actively worked in the media with teams and players, installed LED panels around the perimeter of the court as at VTB United League matches, and came up with a unique lighting concept, Light in the Dark, where basketball players play in a darkened hall. but by using stage lights, a bright and beautiful atmosphere is achieved in the arena, as well as in the TV picture of the TV broadcast.

"We used large—scale branding and a professional concert stage, from which players entered the venue like real rock stars, and organized performances by rap and rock artists right during the games," Alexander Fomin told Izvestia. — We went on a bold experiment — we allowed the presence of coaches on the court so that they could tactically influence the course of the game, rather than sitting in the stands and watching their players from afar, as was previously customary in this sport. Match TV started actively showing 3x3 basketball when the 3x3 Unified European League appeared in Russia. We took a creative approach to choosing game locations, and our track record includes not only basketball in shopping malls and outdoor areas. For example, the final round of 2021 took place on the stage of the St. Petersburg musical and drama theater "Buff", and the 2023 ECL Super Cup within the framework of the forum "Russia - a sporting power" was held in the Perm Theater Theater in conjunction with the VTB United League.

According to Alexander Fomin, the ECL tries in many ways to follow the example of the VTB United League, which holds its events at the highest organizational level.

"I would like to express my gratitude to the VTB United League, represented by league President Sergey Kushchenko and CEO Ilona Korstin, for their long—term support of the 3x3 ECL and for their motivation to get better every year," said the ECL General Manager. "For us, the VTB League is a beacon and a benchmark in the sports world of management and marketing. I would especially highlight the 2025 All–Star Game, which was held with an Old Russian theme, emphasizing the historical power and greatness of our motherland. This basketball show resonated widely not only for the audience and citizens of the Russian Federation, but also, believe me, reached the Western audience.

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The United Europa League changed its name to the ECL in 2022, and was one of the first in Russian sports to switch to inviting clubs from friendly countries, including Belarus, Brazil, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and China. According to Alexander Fomin, this has borne fruit: teams from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan are improving in terms of game and organization from tour to tour. There was also a major scaling up, and the youth division set a record for the number of participating teams (48 teams from 17 regions of the Russian Federation, including new territories, and four international teams took part in one of the rounds. — Ed.).

— We currently have a full—fledged pyramid, starting from the ECL School, Amateur and Youth Leagues, ending with the professional divisions "Future" and "Pros", - continued Alexander Fomin. — Moreover, starting in the seventh season, the winner of the Youth League gets into the "Future" division, through which any team can qualify for the "Pro" division according to the sporting principle. The leading clubs from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan will play in the Future qualifying division, and four foreign teams from the FIBA 3x3 world ranking will join them at the final round in Astana.

The first round of the Future division will be held in Obninsk at the end of June, the second in Smolensk, the third in Minsk, and the fourth in Astana. The Pro division will have four rounds of the regular season and a Superfinal in Kaluga. In addition to the six teams that qualify for the Pros through the Future division, there will be four to six teams from the FIBA 3x3 world ranking on a permanent basis.

— I won't name specific clubs, but we are in dialogue with teams from such countries as the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia, — said the general manager of the ECL. — I consider the latter to be the strongest basketball school on our continent. Let's not forget that Michael Jordan in 3x3 basketball is Serbian Dusan Bulut, who, by the way, also played in our league. Currently, his compatriots Dejan Maistrovic, Strahinja Stojacic, Marko Brankovic are in the leading roles. We expect to see some of them during the seventh season of the ECL.

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An important caveat

The reason why Russian basketball players will finally have the opportunity to receive regular competitive practice with the world's best 3x3 basketball players is that the winner of the ECL 3x3 will receive a direct ticket to the FIBA 3x3 Masters 2026.

— The teams of the World Tour had and still have a great desire to return to the ECL, since we were and are one of the largest 3x3 basketball leagues in Europe, — continues Alexander Fomin. — It seems that the landmark moment is finally coming again, and the confirmation of this is the availability of tickets to the FIBA A3x3 Challenger and Masters for the winners and prize-winners of the seventh season of the ECL 3x3.

According to the results of the ECL3x3 regular season, ten men's and six women's teams from the 12 teams of the Pro division will qualify for the Superfinal. Two more teams from the Men's World Tour will be added to them, who will receive a Wild Card (special invitation) from the ECL. If the sanctions are not lifted from Russian sports in December 2025 by the time of the Superfinal, then if the Russian or Belarusian team wins, they will not be able to go to the Masters and the ticket will automatically pass to a foreign team.

— So far, this is the maximum that is available to us and we can offer together with FIBA, — says Alexander Fomin. — At the same time, Russian and Belarusian teams will not only have the opportunity to receive playing practice with foreign clubs within the ECL, but also at the end of the season, the winners will receive tickets to other international tournaments. All these years of severe international isolation, we have focused on our teams. We tried to find ways and "windows" for not only Russian but also foreign teams to participate in the 3x3 ECL. We believe that this allowed us to smoothly slow down the stagnation of our teams in the absence of full-fledged international starts. I would like to acknowledge and thank the leadership of the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB) in the person of Andrey Kirilenko, Evgeny Ivanov, Vladimir Dyachka and Natalia Vodopyanova for their comprehensive support in recent years. With the arrival of this team, Russian basketball has made a big step forward.

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According to Fomin, the men's Super League and women's Premier League championships are developing at a steady pace, new basketball courts are being built, children's camps are being held as part of the Minibasket project, and attention is being paid to popularizing women's basketball as part of the FIBA and RFB joint project Her World, Her Rules.

"Quiet Basketball is reaching a very good international level through joint efforts with our friends and colleagues from Serbia, BgLeague 3x3, the Russian 3x3 Basketball Championship needs no introduction and is held at a very high level,— concluded Alexander Fomin. — If in my time, when I was a professional athlete, such conditions had been created in our country, including media coverage of teams and players, as well as Super League-1 games broadcast on Match TV, perhaps my career would have ended overseas or at least in a Euroleague club (laughs). But I have no regrets, I am glad that I have the opportunity to help Russian basketball together with league President Sergey Gennadyevich Fomin and the ECL 3x3 — CCST team in its current status.

The Russian national 3x3 basketball teams won two silver medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Our teams were not allowed to enter Paris 2024 due to the IOC sanctions.