Belgrade earned a total of about EUR 20 million last weekend by hosting EuroLeague’s Final Four basketball tournament.
City Manager Goran Vesic said this on Tuesday, and explained that most of the money came from tourists who were in town for the event – about 15,000 of them.
Vesic told Tanjug that the city’s policy is to organize one big sporting competition every year in order to attract tourists and earn money – but also to improve and promote Belgrade’s image during these events broadcast around the world – and show potential investors that this is “a city of sport, a city where good things are happening.”
“We are overjoyed with this event, we proved ourselves to be excellent hosts, and that’s why we decided to make a bid to (host) EuroLeague’s final tournament in 2020 and ask EuroLeague to give us a three-year-contact,” Vesic said.
As for the competition, Real Madrid beat Fenerbahce Istanbul 85-80 (21-17, 17-23, 25-15, 22-25) on Sunday, clinching their tenth EuroLeague title.
At a packed Stark Arena, dominated by Turkish supporters, Luka Doncic – who was named MVP of both the regular season and the Final Four tournament – and Fabien Causeur led Real Madrid with 15 points each, while Nicolo Melli scored 26 for Fenerbahce, who won the title last season, Tanjug reported.
Source; B92
