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VTB United League

VTB United League
Единая Лига ВТБ
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event2016–17 VTB United League
VTB United League logo.png
Sport Basketball
Founded 2008 (Promo-Cup)
2009 (VTB United League)
CEO Andrey Shirokov
Motto One league. One language. Language of basketball.
No. of teams 14
Country  Russia (10 teams)
 Belarus (1 team)
 Estonia (1 team)
 Kazakhstan (1 team)
 Latvia (1 team)
Most recent
champion(s)
Russia CSKA Moscow
(6th title)
Most titles Russia CSKA Moscow
(6 titles)
Level on pyramid 1st tier on Russian Pyramid
International cup(s) EuroLeague
(1st tier)
EuroCup
(2nd tier)
Champions League
(3rd tier)
Official website VTB-League.com

VTB United League (Russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's basketball league that was founded in 2008. Starting with the 2013–14 season, it is the 1st tier of Russian professional club basketball, as well as the national domestic league of Russia, with the highest placed Russian team in the league also being the Russian champions. Its goal is to unite the leading basketball clubs of Eastern Europe and Northern Europe together into one league. The league is sponsored by VTB Bank.

In its inaugural 2009–10 season league format season, the VTB United League featured clubs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. For the 2010–11 season, teams from Finland, Poland and Belarus were added to the league. The 2011–12 season featured a total of 18 teams, with new teams being added from Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. In the 2012–13 season, the number of teams increased to 20. The number of teams was decreased to 16 for the 2014–15 season, and the teams from Ukraine and Lithuania dropped out of the competition.

The first step in the creation of the league was a competition named the VTB United League Promo-Cup held in Moscow in December, 2008. The final of the Promo-Cup was played on December 22, 2008, and was won by CSKA Moscow, who defeated Khimki 70–66. Kyiv ended third.


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