The 1960–61 FIBA European Champions Cup was the fourth season of the European top-tier level professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club competition

FIBA European Champions Cup The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

(now called

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

). It was won by

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, after they defeated

Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...

, the reigning three-time defending champions, and the first major dynasty of European professional club basketball . CSKA lost the first game 66–61, but won the second 87–62, and thus became the fourth straight European champions from the Soviet Union League.

Competition system

24 teams. European national domestic league champions, plus the then current FIBA European Champions Cup title holders only, playing in a tournament system. The Finals were a two-game home and away aggregate.

First round

Second round

*The second leg was cancelled after the Yugoslavian police refused to guarantee the safety of the Belgian team, whose members received serious threats upon arrival to Belgrade, as a result of the mysterious death of Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of Congo, on February 11, 1961. The Soviet government, an ally to Lumumba, blamed the Belgian secret service as the instigator of his murder in the former Belgian colony, and this translated into several riots in the communist countries against the Belgian interests. Since the second leg could not be played, Antwerpse received a 2–0 w.o. in this game and qualified for the next round. ;Automatically qualified to the quarter-finals: *

(title holder)

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

1st leg: Daugava Stadion,

Rīga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, 14 July 1961; Attendance:8,000 2nd leg: Lenin Stadion,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, 22 July 1961; Attendance:15,000

Awards

FIBA European Champions Cup Finals Top Scorer

Viktor Zubkov Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov ( rus, Ви́ктор Алексе́евич Зубко́в, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ zʊpˈkof; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the List of h ...

(

)

References

External links

1960–61 FIBA European Champions Cup
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiba European Champions Cup 1960-61

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

1960-61