In June, Basketball Club “Prometey” officially joined the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Pafbet (LEBL) as the Ukrainian Superleague was suspended due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

 

 

What is the tournament that hospitably opened its doors for our team?

 

 

The Latvian-Estonian basketball league has been held since 2018 as a united competition of the strongest teams from the two countries of the Baltic region. 15 teams participated in the debut season. The first game of the league took place on September 28, it was the match between the Estonian champion Kalev and the Latvian champion Ventspils, who became the first LEBL winner on April 9, 2019.

 

 

The 2019/2020 season was ended early due to the pandemic.

 

 

In 2021, the Estonian "Kalev" became the champion.

 

 

The LEBL regular championship has two rounds - teams play with each other twice during the season (once at home and once away). The playoffs changed every season: it was in the format of the Final Four, then  it was a similar for the Ukrainian Superleague one, when the best eight go to the next stage. Last season, the quarter-final series was played up to two wins. After that, the Final Four, the semi-finals, the match for third place and the final, took place at Arena Riga, which will be the Prometey's home venue this season. The winner was the Riga VEF, which previously lost both finals - in 2019 and 2021.

 

 

In the 2022/2023 season, 15 teams will participate in LEBL: 8 from Estonia, 6 from Latvia and 1 from Ukraine.

 

 

Ukrainian players of BC "Prometey" will be considered as local basketball players, and citizens of other countries will fall under the legionary limit - no more than four foreign players can participate in each match, but there is an opportunity to purchase additional quotas.

 

 

It should also be noted that "Prometey" is the only participant of the EuroCup out of all LEBL teams.

 

 

The LEBL season usually starts in the first days of October. We look forward to the debut of Prometey! In the meantime, we will keep you informed of all the news of the Latvian-Estonian basketball league.