FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier continental club

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 ...

competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run by

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations. ...

. It is not to be confused with the FIBA EuroCup Challenge – the defunct 4th-tier competition, which was also organized and run by FIBA Europe, played between 2002–03 and 2006–07. In 2015, FIBA dissolved the EuroChallenge, in order to start the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

(BCL) and FIBA Europe Cup (FEC), in order to extend opportunities outside the competitions organized by the

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

History

The competition was created in 2003, following the defections of most of the top European basketball teams from the former FIBA SuproLeague, which heralded the formation of the new version of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, under the umbrella of

. FIBA was aiming to create a competition similar to the former Suproleague to rival the Euroleague. From the 2004–05 season and after FIBA sanctioned the Euroleague and the ULEB Cup, the EuroChallenge was considered to be the 3rd strongest international professional basketball competition for men's clubs in Europe, after both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the EuroCup (both of which fall under the supervision of

). Though, during the first two seasons of the competition's coexistence with the EuroCup, the EuroChallenge (under the name FIBA Europe League) was favored by Italian, Russian and Greek teams, making both competitions quite comparable in strength. Since the 2007-08 and following am agreement between ULEB and FIBA the two EuroChallenge finalists were promoted to the next season's 2nd tier level, the EuroCup competition. In 2015,

dissolved the EuroChallenge, to start a new self-anointed second-tier competition, called the

(BCL), in an attempt to compete with the EuroCup.

Final Fours

Finals/Final Four MVP award winners (2004–2015)

Records and statistics

Performances by club

Performances by country

Individual records and statistical leaders

All-Star Game

Winning rosters

FIBA Europe League

FIBA EuroCup

FIBA EuroChallenge

References and notes

External links

FIBA EuroChallenge official website
{{European basketball cups EuroChallenge Defunct basketball cup competitions in Europe 2003 establishments in Europe Recurring sporting events established in 2003 2015 disestablishments in Europe Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2015