The 2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup was the first edition of Europe's 4th-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs, the

FIBA Europe Champions Cup The FIBA EuroCup Challenge was the 4th-tier level (it was the 3rd-tier level during the inaugural 2002–03 season), transnational professional continental club basketball competition in Europe. It was run and organized by FIBA Europe. The lea ...

, following the merger of the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

and

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

competitions into the new ULEB Cup competition. compID= In this first edition of the competition, it was actually the 3rd-tier level on the European club basketball pyramid. The season consisted of 64 teams. The Greek club

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

won the title, after beating the Polish club

Prokom Trefl Sopot Arka Gdynia is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Gdynia. The team plays in the Polish PLK. The club's sponsorship name comes from the company Asseco. Historically the team is one of the most successful in Poland, mainly because of ...

in the Final, which was held at

Alexandreio Melathron Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall (Greek: Αλεξάνδρειο Μέλαθρον, Σάλα Νίκος Γκάλης) is an indoor sports arena that is located in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is also often referred to as the Palais des Sports (Gre ...

, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The competition, which was initially advertised as

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

's attempt to revive the FIBA European Champions Cup (now known as the EuroLeague). The competition attracted 15 national domestic league champions, and teams from 30 European national leagues, which represented it as a truly pan-European event. However, the competition was only able to attract second division clubs from Italy and Spain, and the newly promoted champion of the Israeli second division. The league was unable to make a good commercial impact, and was then dropped to being the European 4th-tier level in the following 2003–04 season, as FIBA launched the

FIBA Europe League FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

to replace it.

Teams

Competition system

* 64 teams from countries affiliated to

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all 50 national European basketball federations. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA Euro ...

enter a Regional Qualifying Round (RQR), distributed in three major conferences (North, South and West) according to their geographical location. Within each conference, the teams are further divided into groups and play a Round-robin. The final standing is based on individual wins and defeats. In case of a tie between two or more teams after this group stage, the following criteria are used to decide the final classification: 1) number of winsin one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average between the teams; 3) general basket average within the group. * The RQR group winners and runners-up, together with the best third-placed teams, advance to Pan-European Phase (PEP). Before the PEP phase, the group champions of the RQR Northern and Southern conferences participate in a final round to contest for the symbolic title of Conference Champion- in the case of the Northern conference, the final four doubles as NEBL championship (

North European Basketball League The North European Basketball League, or Northern European Basketball League (NEBL), was a short-lived regional professional basketball league. It was founded in 1998, by Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Dmitry Buriak. The league was the first commerci ...

). * The 24 teams qualified for the PEP are divided into six groups of four teams each playing a Round-robin. The group winners, together with the two best runners-up, qualify for a quarterfinal play-off (x-pairings, home and away games). * The four winners of the quarterfinal play-off qualify for the final stage (Final Four), played at a predetermined venue. The winner gets a wild card to participate in

2003–04 FIBA Europe League The 2003–04 FIBA Europe League was the first season of the FIBA Europe League, the newly established third tier in European basketball. A total number of 30 teams participated in the competition, five of which were domestic champions. UNICS too ...

Conference North

The season ran from October 1, 2002 to November 5, 2002. Before the PEP phase, the group champions of the RQR Northern conference participate in a final round to contest for the symbolic title of Conference Champion

Semifinals

January 14, Vilnius Palace of Sports,

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

3rd place game

January 15, Vilnius Palace of Sports,

Final

January 15, Vilnius Palace of Sports,

Conference South

The season ran from October 1, 2002 to November 5, 2002. Before the PEP phase, the group champions of the RQR Southern conference participate in a final round to contest for the symbolic title of Conference Champion

Semifinals

January 16,

Universiada Hall Universiada Hall ( bg, Зала "Универсиада") is an Indoor arena in Sofia, Bulgaria. Opened in 1961 for the II Summer Universiade, the arena has a seating capacity for 4,000 people and is the regular home venue of the Levski Sofia bas ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

3rd place game

January 17,

Final

January 17,

Conference West

The season ran from October 1, 2002 to November 5, 2002.

Group C

Pan-European phase

The phase ran from February 2, 2003 to March 25, 2003.

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were two-legged ties determined on aggregate score. The first legs was played on April 8. All return legs were played on April 15.

Teams

Competition system

Conference North

Semifinals

3rd place game

Final

Conference South

Semifinals

3rd place game

Final

Conference West

Group C

Pan-European phase

Quarterfinals

Final Four

Semifinals

3rd place game

Final

Final standings

See also

References