VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, it is the first tier of Russian professional club basketball. Therefore, the highest placed Russian team in the league is also named Russian national champions. The league is sponsored by Russian state-owned VTB Bank. In 2008

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 a central piece ...

won

VTB United League Promo-Cup VTB United League Promo-Cup 2008 was the first test run tournament of the VTB United League. The tournament was held during the 2008–09 basketball season on 20–22 December 2008, at the CSKA Universal Sports Hall in Moscow. The tournament inclu ...

, but this competition does not count as official VTB title. The current champions are Zenit Saint Petersburg, who secured their 1st ever title after defeating former champions

4–3 in the 2022 Finals. CSKA have dominated the league, having won all but two title in its existence. The VTB United League also holds a youth competition, the VTB United Youth League.

Formats

In its inaugural 2009–10 season, the VTB United League featured clubs from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Lithuania,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. For the 2010–11 season, teams from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

were added to the league. The 2011–12 season featured 18 teams, with new teams being added from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. In the 2012–13 season, the number of teams increased to 20. The number of teams decreased to 16 for the 2014–15 season, and the teams from Lithuania and

dropped out of the league. During the 2021–22 season, ten teams were left to compete after the Polish and Estonian clubs withdrew from the league in protest against the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

History

The first step in the creation of the league was a competition named the

held in Moscow in December 2008. The final of the Promo-Cup was played on December 22, 2008, and was won by

, who defeated Khimki 70–66.

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

ended third.

Unification with the Russian PBL

In May 2012, all the PBL clubs gathered to decide which format would be used for the next season, and some club's directors raised the possibility of uniting with the VTB United League, to produce greater competition between the Russian basketball clubs. They suggested that the new league be named the Eastern European Professional Basketball League. In July 2012, the Council of VTB United League decided that the PBL league would continue for one more year, with some games of the VTB United League that took place between two Russian clubs being counted as PBL games. The first tier Russian clubs then replaced the PBL with the VTB United League as their new national domestic league, starting with the 2013-14 season. The VTB United League was recognized by

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 Eur ...

in September 2013. The league was then officially recognized by FIBA World in October 2014. The league needed to be recognized by both bodies, because it contains clubs that come from countries that are part of both the European and Asian FIBA zones. The honorary head of the league is Sergei Ivanov and its official sponsor is

Pavel Vrublevsky Pavel Olegovich Vrublevsky (russian: link=no, Павел Олегович Врублевский; born 26 December 1978) is a Russian, owner and general manager of the processing company ChronoPay. He is also the founder of investment company RNP ...

ChronoPay Pavel Olegovich Vrublevsky (russian: link=no, Павел Олегович Врублевский; born 26 December 1978) is a Russian, owner and general manager of the processing company ChronoPay. He is also the founder of investment company RNP ...

Arena rules

In order for clubs to play in the VTB United League, they must have a home arena that has a seating capacity of at least 3,000 seats.

Current clubs

Team appearances

Titles

: The whole 2008 tournament was staged in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, including the Final Four. 2008 tournament does not count as official VTB title.

Russian basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

Awards

Records

Sponsor

* VTB Bank Although during 2014 Andrey Kostin's VTB Bank contributed 150 million rubles to VTB Union League which was third to its 4.5 billion rubles contributed to

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Fo ...

and 750 million rubles contributed to support HC Dynamo Moscow, his VTB bank recorded very large losses of 5 billion rubles in March 2015 connected to its sponsorships and contributions to charities of over a total of 15.5 billion rubles that had 10 billion rubles given to undisclosed recipients. This led to the Bank of Moscow giving VTB Bank an 8 billion rubles loan at 0.51% per year with maturity in 2021. Of VTB Bank money given away during 2014, 80% of the total of 17.5 billion rubles were given away in the fourth quarter.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Top sport leagues in Russia Basketball leagues in Estonia Basketball leagues in Latvia Basketball leagues in Lithuania Basketball leagues in Russia Basketball leagues in Ukraine Basketball leagues in Belarus 2009 establishments in Russia Sports leagues established in 2009 Sports leagues in Russia Professional sports leagues in Russia Professional sports leagues in Poland Professional sports leagues in Belarus Multi-national professional sports leagues