Avner Kopel: The EUROHOLD Balkan League is very important for us

The president of the Israeli Basketball Association - Mr. Avner Kopel visited Sofia to watch two days of the U20 Men European Championship Division B. At the halftime break of the game between Bulgaria and Poland he took some of his time to talk to bgbasket.com   What’s the purpose of your visit to Sofia?

I came in order to support the Israeli team, it’s very important for Israel that our youth team will be in Division A, and that’s why I came here (later Israel and Belgium qualified for Division A).

How do you see the games, and mainly the Bulgarian team?

The Bulgarian team surprised me, they have progressed a lot. I saw two or three very good players, who in my opinion can play at a high level in the future. They are performing very good, and they defeated us, Israel, so they have to be a good team. I’m watching the game against Poland, who are a very good team, but the Bulgarians are doing good and I hope that they will win and go to Division A (Bulgaria defeated Poland and got the promotion).

Last year Israel had two teams in the EUROHOLD Balkan League. Are you satisfied with their performance and what do you think of the competition?

The EUROHOLD Balkan League is very important for us and I think also that it’s important for the Balkan countries. That’s because the BIBL gives a chance to teams from the mid-level to play and gain experience from meeting foreign teams. The participants from Israel are teams who are in the middle of the table and it’s good for them to play against good European teams.

Last year you had two teams, will you support at least two teams as well this season?

Yes, I will support the participation of at least tow Israeli teams in the EUROHOLD Balkan League. I will choose carefully, because those teams who will play in the competition need to gain experience, so they can go to the Eurocup or the Euroleague in a season or two. They will use this tournament so they can progress as clubs.

From the new season the EUROHOLD Balkan League will have a new system. What’s your opinion on that?

For us it’s good that there can be four Americans on the floor, because that’s the system in Israel. So for us it’s important. Regarding the number of the groups, that’s not much important, as we need 5-6 home and away games. As long as we have those, they are good for the Israeli sides.

You met with Georgi Glushkov, did you speak about a possible partnership between the two federations?

Yes, I saw him in the Secretary General Eleonora Rangelova. I think that the two federations can cooperate mainly regarding the young players, we can make a tournament for women for example. The two sides are really close, the flight is only two hours, we communicate well and I think that it will be very important for Bulgaria and Israel to walk together and share experience, to develop the basketball in both countries.

You and Shay Shtriks have an idea about making an academy here, can you tell us more about it?

In Israel we have such an academy, which is managed by our federation and we made an proposal about making something like this in Bulgaria as well, but that depents on the financial part. We are talking about partnership where we can send Bulgarian players to prepare in Israel. We just started talking about this, so I can’t tell anything that’s 100% sure. I can see future in this, in our cooperation with the Bulgarian federation, players and etc.

I know that you are friends with Asen Hristov. What will you wish to him and tell him about his work in the EUROHOLD Balkan League?

He’s a great guy and he’s important for European basketball. The Balkan teams, who are at mid-European level and play in the BIBL  can develop really good and the League can help the basketball in the participating countries. The BIBL is a good tournament, for the people, for the culture, for the youth, who can play basketball. It’s purpose is education and I really appreciate what Asen Hristov is doing for the Balkan League and for the Balkan countries. Believe me, he deserves an prize for all of this.