VTB United League

VTB United League (Russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian professional club basketball. Therefore, the highest placed Russian team in the league is also named Russian national champions.^{[citation needed]} The league is sponsored by Russian state-owned VTB Bank. In 2008 CSKA Moscow won VTB United League Promo-Cup, but this competition does not count as official VTB title.

VTB United League

Founded	2008; 15 years ago (2008)
First season	2009–10
Country	Russia
Other club(s) from	Belarus Kazakhstan
Confederation	FIBA Europe FIBA Asia
Number of teams	12
Domestic cup(s)	Russian Cup
Supercup	VTB League Supercup
International cup(s)	EuroLeague EuroCup Champions League Europe Cup
Current champions	UNICS (1st title)
Most championships	CSKA Moscow (10 titles)
Website	vtb-league.com
2022–23 season

The current champions are Zenit Saint Petersburg, who secured their 1st ever title after defeating former champions CSKA Moscow 4–3 in the 2022 Finals. CSKA have dominated the league, having won all but two title in its existence. The VTB United League also holds a youth competition, the VTB United Youth League.

Formats

In its inaugural 2009–10 season, the VTB United League featured clubs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine. For the 2010–11 season, teams from Belarus, Finland, and Poland were added to the league. The 2011–12 season featured 18 teams, with new teams being added from the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan.^[1] In the 2012–13 season, the number of teams increased to 20. The number of teams decreased to 16 for the 2014–15 season, and the teams from Lithuania and Ukraine dropped out of the league.

During the 2021–22 season, ten teams were left to compete after the Polish and Estonian clubs withdrew from the league in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[2]

History

The first step in the creation of the league was a competition named the VTB United League Promo-Cup held in Moscow in December 2008.^[3] The final of the Promo-Cup was played on December 22, 2008, and was won by CSKA Moscow, who defeated Khimki 70–66. Kyiv ended third.^[4]

Unification with the Russian PBL

In May 2012, all the PBL clubs gathered to decide which format would be used for the next season, and some club's directors raised the possibility of uniting with the VTB United League, to produce greater competition between the Russian basketball clubs. They suggested that the new league be named the Eastern European Professional Basketball League.^[5][6][7]

In July 2012, the Council of VTB United League decided that the PBL league would continue for one more year, with some games of the VTB United League that took place between two Russian clubs being counted as PBL games.^[8] The first tier Russian clubs then replaced the PBL with the VTB United League as their new national domestic league, starting with the 2013-14 season.^{[citation needed]}

The VTB United League was recognized by FIBA Europe in September 2013.^[9][10] The league was then officially recognized by FIBA World in October 2014. The league needed to be recognized by both bodies, because it contains clubs that come from countries that are part of both the European and Asian FIBA zones.^{[citation needed]}

The honorary head of the league is Sergei Ivanov and its official sponsor is Pavel Vrublevsky of ChronoPay.^[11][12][13]

Arena rules

In order for clubs to play in the VTB United League, they must have a home arena that has a seating capacity of at least 3,000 seats.^[14]

Current clubs

 

 

Astana

 

Avtodor

 

CSKA

 

Enisey

 

Lokomotiv

 

MBA

 

Nizhny Novgorod

 

Parma

 

Samara

 

MINSK

 

UNICS

 

Zenit

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Locations of teams in the 2022–23 VTB United League

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Astana	Astana	Arena Velotrack	9,270^[15]
Avtodor	Saratov	DS Kristall	5,500^[16]
CSKA Moscow	Moscow	Megasport Arena	13,344^[17]
Enisey	Krasnoyarsk	Arena.Sever	4,000^[18]
Lokomotiv-Kuban	Krasnodar	Basket-Hall	7,500^[19]
MBA Moscow	Moscow	Basket Hall Moscow	5,000
MINSK	Minsk	Falcon Club Arena
		Minsk-Arena	15,000^[20]
Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	5,500^[21]
PARMA-PARI	Perm	UDS Molot	7,000
Samara	Samara	Ice Sports Palace	5,000
UNICS	Kazan	Basket-Hall	7,000^[22]
Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	Sibur Arena	6,381^[23]

Team appearances

Team	2008 (8)	09–10 (8)	10–11 (12)	11–12 (18)	12–13 (20)	13–14 (20)	14–15 (16)	15–16 (16)	16–17 (13)	17–18 (13)	18–19 (14)	19–20 (13)	20–21 (13)	21–22 (12)
Tsmoki-Minsk			GS	GS	GS	GS	14th	12th	12th	9th	14th	(13th)	13th	9th
Nymburk				GS	GS	GS	15th	QF
Kalev/Cramo		GS		GS	GS	GS	9th	14th	11th	12th	QF	(8th)	10th	Ret
Bisons Loimaa							13th	13th
Espoon Honka			GS
Torpan Pojat				QR
VITA Tbilisi								16th
Astana					1/8	1/8	QF	15th	QF	10th	QF	(9th)	12th	10th
ASK Rīga	7th
VEF Rīga		GS	GS		QF	GS	GS	11th	QF	QF	10th
Lietuvos rytas			GS	3rd	GS	SF
Neptūnas					GS	GS
Šiauliai				QR
Žalgiris	5th	3rd	1/8	1/8	3rd
Anwil				QR
Prokom	8th		GS	GS
Turów					GS	GS
Zielona Góra											12th	(7th)	QF	Ret
Avtodor							QF	QF	10th	QF	11th	(12th)	9th	QF
CSKA	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	(2nd)	1st	2nd
Dynamo	4th
Enisey				GS	GS	1/8	11th	10th	QF	13th	9th	(11th)	11th	QF
Khimki	2nd	4th	1st	QF	4th	QF	2nd	SF	2nd	2nd	2nd	(1st)	QF
Krasny Oktyabr						1/8	12th	9th
Krasnye Krylia				GS	QF	QF	16th
Lokomotiv Kuban				4th	2nd	QF	SF	QF	SF	QF	QF	(3rd)	SF	4th
Nizhny Novgorod				1/8	QF	2nd	SF	QF	9th	QF	QF	(10th)	QF	QF
Parma									13th	11th	13th	(5th)	QF	QF
Spartak				QF	1/8	1/8
Triumph					1/8	QF
UNICS		2nd	3rd	2nd	QF	SF	QF	2nd	QF	4th	SF	(4th)	2nd	3rd
Zenit							QF	SF	SF	3rd	SF	(6th)	SF	1st
Azovmash	6th	GS	4th	GS	GS	GS
Budivelnyk				GS
Dnipro			GS	QR
Donetsk		GS			1/8	GS
Kyiv	3rd

Results

Key to colors

VTB United League Promo-Cup

Season	Finals & Final Four Hosts	Finals			Third Place Playoff
		Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	Fourth Place
2008 Details	Russia (USK CSKA, Moscow) ^†	CSKA Moscow	70–66	Khimki	Kyiv	86–73	Dynamo Moscow
2009–10 Details	Lithuania (Sports Hall, Kaunas)	CSKA Moscow	66–55	UNICS	Žalgiris	78–72	Khimki
2010–11 Details	Russia (Basket Hall, Kazan)	Khimki	66–64	CSKA Moscow	UNICS	95–75	Azovmash
2011–12 Details	Lithuania (Siemens Arena, Vilnius)	CSKA Moscow	74–62	UNICS	Lietuvos rytas	91–83	Lokomotiv Kuban
2012–13 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–1 Series	Lokomotiv Kuban	Žalgiris	Did not play	Khimki
2013–14 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–0 Series	Nizhny Novgorod	UNICS	Did not play	Lietuvos rytas
2014–15 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–0 Series	Khimki	Lokomotiv Kuban	Did not play	Nizhny Novgorod
2015–16 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–1 Series	UNICS	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Did not play	Khimki
2016–17 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–0 Series	Khimki	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Did not play	Lokomotiv Kuban
2017–18 Details	Russia (VTB Ice Palace, Moscow)	CSKA Moscow	95–84	Khimki	Zenit Saint Petersburg	93–79	UNICS
2018–19 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–0 Series	Khimki	UNICS	Did not play	Zenit Saint Petersburg
2019–20 Details	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic - no champion announced.
2020–21 Details	In home and away venues	CSKA Moscow	3–0 Series	UNICS	Lokomotiv Kuban	Did not play	Zenit Saint Petersburg
2021–22 Details	In home and away venues	Zenit Saint Petersburg	4–3 Series	CSKA Moscow	UNICS	3–1 Series	Lokomotiv Kuban
2022–23 Details	In home and away venues	UNICS	4–1 Series	Lokomotiv Kuban	CSKA Moscow	4–1 Series	Zenit Saint Petersburg

^† The whole 2008 tournament was staged in Moscow, including the Final Four.

2008 tournament does not count as official VTB title.

Titles by club

Club	Champions	Runners-up	Winning years
CSKA Moscow	10	2	2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Khimki	1	4	2011
UNICS	1	4	2023
Zenit Saint Petersburg	1	0	2022
Lokomotiv Kuban	0	2
Nizhny Novgorod	0	1

Russian basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

Main article: Russian basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

Awards

Major awards Hall of Fame Most Valuable Player Playoffs MVP Coach of the Year Young Player of the Year Sixth Man of the Year Defensive Player of the Year

Awards by nationality Top Belarusian Player Top Estonian Player Top Kazakh Player Top Latvian Player Top Russian Player Statistical Awards Scoring Leader Rebounding Leader Assist Leader Steals Leader Block Leader Free Throw Percentage Leader

Records

Main article: VTB United League Records

Sponsor

• VTB Bank

Although during 2014 Andrey Kostin's VTB Bank contributed 150 million rubles to VTB Union League which was third to its 4.5 billion rubles contributed to FC Dynamo Moscow and 750 million rubles contributed to support HC Dynamo Moscow, his VTB bank recorded very large losses of 5 billion rubles in March 2015 connected to its sponsorships and contributions to charities of over a total of 15.5 billion rubles that had 10 billion rubles given to undisclosed recipients. This led to the Bank of Moscow giving VTB Bank an 8 billion rubles loan at 0.51% per year with maturity in 2021. Of VTB Bank money given away during 2014, 80% of the total of 17.5 billion rubles were given away in the fourth quarter.^[24]

See also

• Basketball in Russia
• Russian Professional Championship
• Russian Professional League
• Russian Super League 1
• USSR Premier League
• Russian Cup
• USSR Cup
• Adriatic League
• Baltic League

References

1. "New clubs in the VTB United League". VTB United League. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
2. "Zielona Gora joins Kalev/Cramo in departing the VTB United League". eurohoops.net. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
3. . vtb-league.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-19. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
4. . Sport Express. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
5. 20 clubs will play in VTB United League championship in seasone-2012/13 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, vtb-league.com, May 20, 2012
6. "PBL looks to a better future". ULEB. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
7. Triumph applied an application to participate in the new season of VTB United League 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, May 20, 2012, vtb-league.com
8. BEKO PBL Press service. "BEKO PBL Board suggests scheme of 2012/2013 season". pbleague.ru. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
9. VTB League Officially Recognised.
10. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
11. Михайлов, Сергей (Mikhailov, Sergey) (9 June 2015). [The schemer found refuge: What the runaway Ukrainian ex-duputy Shepelev seeks in Russia]. «Соверше́нно секре́тно» ("Top secret") (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
12. Михайлов, Сергей (Mikhailov, Sergey) (9 June 2015). "Схемщик нашел прибежище: Что ищет в России беглый Украинский экс-депутат Шепелев" [The schemer has taken refuge: What the fugitive Ukrainian ex-deputy Shepelev is looking for in Russia]. «Соверше́нно секре́тно» ("Top secret") (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
13. "Врублевский: ЕЛ ВТБ — это возрождение баскетбола в России" [Vrublevsky: EL VTB is the revival of basketball in Russia]. championat.com (in Russian). 29 April 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
14. . Archived from the original on 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
15. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena Velotrack Capacity: 9270 spectators
16. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. DS Kristall Capacity: 5500
17. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
18. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena.Sever Capacity: 4000 spectators
19. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Basket-hall» Capacity: 7500 spectators
20. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Minsk-Arena» Capacity: 15,000 spectators
21. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Nizhniy Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace» Capacity: 5500 spectators
22. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Basket-Hall Capacity: 7000 spectators
23. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2017. SK Yubileyniy Capacity: 6381 spectators
24. Воронова, Татьяна (Voronova, Tatiana); Еремина, Анна (Eremina, Anna); Казакулова, Галина (Kazakulova, Galina) (16 April 2015). "Убытки – не помеха для благотворительности ВТБ: В I квартале 2015 года госбанк получил 5 млрд рублей убытка и при этом 15,5 млрд рублей потратил на благотворительность" [Losses are not a hindrance to VTB's charity: In the first quarter of 2015, the state bank received 5 billion rubles in losses and at the same time spent 15.5 billion rubles on charity]. Vedomosti (in Russian). Retrieved 25 January 2021.

External links

• Official website