Two legends meet...
Milan Tomic and Alberto Herreros met ten years after the first Euroleague game ever, this time in the Press Conference Room of the Peace and Friendship Stadium and together with the Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeou turned back the time.
Just before the jump ball of the game, the then captains Olympiacos and Real Madrid in that historic game, exchanged the score sheet of the particular encounter and then handed it over to the current captains of the two teams, Teo Papaloukas and Felipe Reyes.
MILAN TOMIC : “It’s a special joy for me to be here with my friend Alberto and the Euroleague President. Time has gone by fast. I don’t recall much of that game. I remember it to be a great game for being the inauguration one of the Euroleague. I remember we lost. I’m happy to sit here next to Herreros”.
ALBERTO HERREROS: “I’m proud and happy to be here. I remember the game and I’m happy to be here for the opening game. I wish to thank Milan Tomic and the President Mr. Bertomeou for what the Euroleague has been doing. I hope we get the same result as ten years ago!”
JORDI BERTOMEOU: “It’s a great honor that ten years after the first game, two historic clubs of the likes of Olympiacos and Real Madrid have given us the chance to enter a new era in European basketball. We are proud that two legends such as Tomic and Herreros are with us in tonight’s game.
After ten years, we are coming back more experienced, willing to go forward and with bigger dreams. We have done lots of things in these ten years, not always good, but we are eager to do much more.
We can put the new project on the table, but the teams are those to close the deals.
We are entering a difficult financial situation, but we have solid foundations.
It’s good that we have TV coverage in 196 countries on the planet. Euroleague will develop this year 22% more in comparison to last season. In the Paris Final Four, the financial outcome was 2% above what we had anticipated for this season.
Euroleague will continue working to expand its presence outside Europe. The collaboration with the NBA has been very positive for one more year, and this shows in the outcome.
Euroleague will try to give access to more countries. The presence of a Belgian team in the groups is proof of that.
We will continue with the program of social corporate responsibility.
We will try and make our sport a global one through experience as well as through the game of the week”.