Any continent: teams from ten countries will play in the ECL Superfinal

The superfinal of the United Continental League (ECL) in 3x3 basketball will bring together teams from ten countries in Kaluga. Leading teams from Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Serbia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will compete with Russian clubs. In addition to the high prize pool, the medalists of the Olympic Games, World Championships and Europe will also compete for tickets to the first FIBA 3x3 Challenger in 2026. & Masters, as well as other international tournaments. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Basketball unites

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. Over the past seven years, teams from more than 40 countries have participated in the Russian tournament.

"The ECL focuses on inviting foreign teams," said Andrei Kirilenko, President of the Russian Basketball Federation, in a conversation with Izvestia. — And that's great, because our clubs really lack international practice. The ECL qualitatively closes this gap, and it is very difficult in modern realities.

Throughout the regular season of the ECL's "Future" division, Russian teams played with foreign teams, and its final was held in Kazakhstan. The winner was the local Barca Atyrau team, which eventually received a ticket to the FIBA Masters, which took place in Shanghai at the end of September.

The Pro Division— the top 3x3 ECL tournament, consisted of three rounds. As a result, six men's and four women's clubs qualified for the Superfinal (two more teams received wild cards from the organizers), where they were joined by seven and four foreign teams, respectively.

—The ECL is the platform that has been working, working and will continue to work for the development of Russian basketball since the first day of its existence in the context of the United League of Europe," ECL 3x3 President Sergey Fomin told Izvestia. — And due to the fact that there are a sufficient number of foreign teams in the ECL, this is additional practice and international experience for our teams and for the candidate players for the Russian national team. I am sure that the sanctions will be lifted in the near future, and our teams, our 3x3 basketball teams, will begin to compete on the international stage. We're not going to change our format. The Europa League is a bit narrow for us now. We will remain in the format of the United Continental League, because we have teams playing and teams from Latin America, North America, Asia, as well as our partners from the CIS will play. Basketball unites, we are open to everyone.

Alexander Fomin, the general manager of the tournament, an ex-player of CSKA and Ural Great, noted that teams from different continents expressed a great desire to play in the Superfinal.

"We are in close dialogue with almost 90% of the world's teams, as well as constructively interacting with international sports organizations," the functionary emphasized in an interview with Izvestia. — I would like to point out that they are looking forward to our official return, as well as, in fact, we are too. This causes great optimism. We are confident about the future, and right now we have assembled a very competitive squad for the Superfinal. We will be joined by some of the strongest teams not only from Russia, the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but also two teams from China (Shanghai Srt, Wolf United), one each from Serbia (Aviator 3x3), Israel (Ramat Gan), Brazil (Drible Certo) and Belgium (Brussels). The presence of these clubs in the Superfinal indicates a high level of trust in the League and the desire of teams from all over the world to play in Russia. The drawing of tickets to international tournaments also plays an important role.

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If the sanctions are not lifted from Russian sports in early 2026, then if the Russian or Belarusian team wins the Superfinal, they will not be able to go to the FIBA Masters, and the ticket will automatically pass to a foreign team.

In this case, the Russian team will go to a major tournament in China.

"As part of the Superfinal, we will enter into a partnership with the largest 3x3 basketball League from China," continued Sergey Fomin. — The winners of their tournaments will come to the ECL tours next season, and our teams will go to China accordingly. This will be an important milestone in the development of ECL 3x3. In this context, it is also worth mentioning our long-standing partnerships with representatives of Kazakhstan and Belarus. Bulat Mukhambetkaliyev, Adviser to the President of the National Basketball Federation of Kazakhstan, and Anastasia Marinina, Secretary General of the Belarusian Basketball Federation, are doing a lot to promote basketball in their countries. Three years ago, Belarusian and Kazakh teams could not compete with our teams. Now they are fighting with them on equal terms.

The ECL President also named the Superfinal favorites.

— It is not the first year that I have been saying that thanks to the Russian Football Federation, with whom we hold the Youth League, and our League, 3x3 basketball is at a high level in Russia, — said Sergey Fomin. — Our teams will be the favorites in the women's tournament. Their main rivals are the national team of Belarus and Barca Atyrau. For men, the main contenders for victory include Bionord Pro, which is supported by our Olympic vice-champions Alexander Zuev and Stanislav Sharov, as well as the winners of the regular season of the "Pros" ABC BB, led by Shalva Shatashvili. They will have plenty of competitors. I would like to highlight a strong team from Serbia, where basketball is almost an official religion, good teams from China, as well as teams from Belgium and Israel. Clubs from Kazakhstan and Belarus should not be discounted either. The former won the "Future" division, the latter finished in second place in the regular season of the "Pro" division.

The total prize fund of the Superfinal will be 2.2 million rubles. The winners of the men's tournament will receive 850 thousand, silver medalists - 500 thousand, bronze — 350 thousand. For women, the prize money will be distributed as follows: 250 thousand rubles for the first place, 150 thousand for the second, 100 thousand for the third.

— For the entire season, including the Superfinal, the ECL will pay the teams 7 million rubles, — said Alexander Fomin. — This is one of the largest prize pools in 3x3 basketball in the Russian Federation, and we intend to increase it in the eighth season. We understand that this is an additional financial motivation for teams and players who put a lot of effort into training and official matches. That's why we want to support them.

In addition to the cool 3x3 basketball, a powerful musical bonus awaits the audience in Kaluga: on December 13, one of the most popular musicians of the CIS, rapper Moreart, will perform a big concert before the final games.