Sopron announced to host maiden Final Four

MUNICH (EuroLeague Women Final Four) – The 2018 EuroLeague Women Final Four will be hosted by Sopron, in Hungary, from April 20-22.

Sopron, who will be playing in their second Final Four, following on from 2009, will play host to Russian clubs UMMC Ekaterinburg and Dynamo Kursk, as well as tournament newcomers Yakin Dogu Universitesi, from Turkey.

The Semi-Finals will take place on Friday, with an all-Russian affair as 2016 champions UMMC Ekaterinburg match-up against 2017 champions Dynamo Kursk; whilst Sopron will take on Yakin Dogu Universitesi. The time and playing order of the games will be confirmed in due course.

"Sopron is a city with a strong women's basketball culture," commented FIBA Executive Director Europe, Kamil Novak. "The Hungarian Basketball Federation, with immense input from the Sopron club, selected the city to help play host to FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2015, as well as multiple European youth championships, including this coming summer's FIBA U20 Women's European Championship.

"Given this excellent track record, and with the full support of the Hungarian Basketball Federation, I am confident that this will be a successful, well executed Final Four."

Ferenc Szalay, President of the Hungarian Basketball Federation, highlighted that the success of Sopron Basket is the biggest result of Hungarian club basketball in the past decade, going on to add, "It was self-evident for the Federation to help the club and the city in all aspects during the negotiations for the right to organize. Thank you to the Hungarian Government for realizing the significance of the Final Four and the success of the club, and for supporting the event.

"Sopron has in the past hosted FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2015, and several youth European Championships and has proved itself able to host an event like the EuroLeague Women Final Four. This opportunity to organize is the great success of the city of Sopron, of the local club and especially of Hungarian basketball."

Sopron Managing Director Zoltan Torok mirrored the statements of Mr Novak and Mr Szalay, "Sopron has historically been a city of women's basketball and we are very proud that this spring we can be the capital of European club basketball.

"I want to thank FIBA, the Hungarian Government, City of Sopron and the Hungarian Basketball Federation for their support! Sopron, Hungary is looking forward to the EuroLeague Women Final Four and we will do our best to host a successful tournament!"

###

About EuroLeague Women
EuroLeague Women is the premier women’s basketball competition in Europe, featuring the top 16 teams from the continent and the world’s best players.

For further information about EuroLeague Women, visit fiba.com/EuroLeagueWomen or follow us on facebook.com/EuroLeagueWomen, twitter.com/EuroLeagueWomen, instagram.com/EuroLeagueWomen, and youtube.com/FIBA.