FIBA Europe EuroLeague Women
EuroLeague Women is the highest professional competition in Europe for women’s basketball. Although the word league is used, this is a knock-out cup competition starting with a mini-league phase. Admission into this competition is based on positions obtained in the clubs’ domestic leagues, and normally only the winner of the Final-4 automatically qualifies for the next edition.Before 1992 the EuroLeague Women was called the European Cup for women’s champions club. In the early days it was dominated by clubs from Eastern Europe days with in particular Daugava Riga. This club won the cup 18 times between 1959 and 1982. Then from 1983 until 1991 it was the turn of Italian clubs to monopolise the competition by winning it seven times. With the change of name the format of the competition changed. Between 1992 and 1996 the number of entrants each year varied and it was not until 1996-1997 the number of participants was fixed at 16 teams. That was the moment a real mini-league structure took shape. Two groups of eight teams were formed with the top 4 qualifying for the knock-out stage. This format was used until 2004-2005 with the exception of 2000-2001.
As the structure was criticised a lot as at the end of the first phase only two teams were eliminated FIBA Europe decided, for this season, to increase the number of teams to 24 and hence the teams are split into four groups of six teams with the first four teams to qualify for the knock out stage.
Bourges Basket and Valenciennes (USVO) are the only French clubs to have won this trophy. Bourges won it on three occasions in 1997, 1998 and 2001 while USVO have lifted it twice in 2001 and 2004. France have been awarded four places in this competition by FIBA Europe and the French Federation allocated the places to USVO as French Champions, Bourges as winner of the Federation Cup, to Villeneuve D’Ascq 3rd at the end of the regular season and to Mondeville 5th at the end of the regular season. Montpellier that finished in 4th place declined its participation. Return from EuroLeague to Competition Guide
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In 2004-2005 21 teams took part and were split into three groups of seven teams. At the end of the league phase five teams were eliminated and then the competition reverted to a knock-out system. The next two seasons the same format was used but only 18 teams participated.
