In the midst of the commotion over the sanction against Red Star that does not allow Campazzo to play in the Euroleague until next March, Mashall Glickman, CEO of the European competition, gave an exclusive interview to basketnewsexplaining how and why they decided to execute this sanction.
The executive argues that the penalty is fair for the tournament, and the ultimate goal is to perform as well as possible for the players involved. “It is a great step forward that there is a players’ association”, the CEO commented to the outlet. “One of the biggest problems for the players, for a very good reason, was: ‘We need to get paid and we need pay us on time‘. So that’s one of several issues addressed in the deal.”, he clarified in the interview.
Untimely payment was the main reason for the penalty. “As you know, the players were not paid on time. We have an independent body called the Management Control Commission that did extensive research”, he explained. “I don’t want to go into the details of his work, but we’re not involved. They are independent. They are truly independent. They are a group of three lawyers who have no background and they have nothing to do directly with basketball”, he qualified.
“They came to the conclusion that the club was not available with certain information that was necessary. In the meantime, they were able to register players they otherwise would not have been able to register, what potentially gave a competitive advantage who otherwise would not have had”, he explained to BasketNews.
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Campazzo is just one link in a larger problem. Glickman reports that he has no problem with the Argentine point guard from Estrella Roja.”It wasn’t a question of ‘Can Campazzo play or not play?’ It had nothing to do with Campazzo. We have to maintain system integritya, particularly in a situation where we are doing exactly what the Management Control Committee asked us to do”, he stated in the interview.
The former player of Real Madrid got in touch with him at the timeHe sent me an email very nice. It was very polite and courteous, and I sent him a rather lengthy email explaining the situation”, answering the interviewer’s question.
“I feel very bad for Campazzo, personally. Obviously, we would all like him to be on the court. That’s not the point. I have had an exchange with him directly. Didn’t you talk to Mike James?”. Glickman referred to the podcast URBONUS with Mike James Y Donatas Motiejunas. “i think he said it all”.
“i think we did the right thing. I don’t think it would have been appropriate for me to step in just because we would all like this particular player to play. I think my job is to defend the interests of all players. I think that if Mr. Campazzo has a problem, he should talk to your agents. Because his agents were very aware of the situation”, he finished.