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Benfica discovered, this Wednesday, that it was one of them Teams selected by FIBA To participate in the next edition of the Champions League, but the Eagles received that decision with bitterness, indicating that they should have been chosen to advance directly to the regular stage, instead of having to qualify, as happened.

“The BCL staff confirmation has left us with a bitter taste. It is something we do not understand and it seems unfair to us. The 28 teams with direct access to the group stage are selected through the rankings, and this process should be straightforward and without artifice. It is true that only last year we contributed to the ranking of the clubs, but nevertheless we achieved great results that brought us very close to direct access, ”he began by saying Joao Nuno Crespo, team manager of the red basketball team, about the club’s location.

“It makes no sense that a Polish team that has never participated in the top flight of football has direct access and is far below Benfica, while the country is not even ahead of us. We have already set up a union fair [Portuguesa de Basquetebol], trying to understand what the standards are and why this happened. We don’t know if it can be reversed. We regret that BCL has made this decision, not least because the Benfica brand is known worldwide. “I don’t think any organization can exclude the Benfica brand,” he added.

Joao Nuno Crespo also stated that Benfica is now waiting for the news: “We will wait, we would be happy to return to top-flight football, if we have to play in QualificationsWe will play like last season [2022/23]We hope to reach the coveted group stage, which is where Benfica deserves to be in all its recent performances and the club’s history demands it.”

The draw for this qualifying stage will take place on July 5th, with the competition taking place between September 25th and October 1st, while the competition itself will start on October 17th, with the usual group stage (eight groups of four teams each). The winners of each group advance directly to the next stage, while the second and third seeds will play in tournament play, in January.