Congratulations go out from Ball in Europe this afternoon to the basketball-organizing folks of former Winter Olympics host city Turin, Italy, who have been awarded the Euroleague Basketball Final Four tournament for 2011. The venue will be the 16,600-seat Palasport Olimpico, which saw Eurocup action in 2008 and 2009.
Official Euroleague press release follows.
(Euroleague) – Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that the Euroleague Final Four will take place in Turin, Italy in 2011, as one of the showcase events with which the city is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Italian state. The semi-finals and title game of Europe’s top competition will be played at the 16,600-seat Palasport Olimpico in May 2011.
As the host of the Winter Olympics just four years ago, Turin is a proven winner in organizing major multi-day sports events like the Euroleague Final Four. Its recent experience as host of the 2008 and 2009 Eurocup finals, at a different venue each year, has shows that the city is also well-versed in delivering basketball at its finest to thousands of visiting fans as well as a world-wide broadcast audience. Turin will be the 10th city to host the Final Four for Euroleague Basketball. The first of those was also in Italy, at Bologna in 2002, making Turin the country’s second city to host the top event in European club basketball.