1971–72 FIBA European Champions Cup

Updated on Nov 18, 2023

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Sport Basketball Runners-up Jugoplastika		Champions Ignis Varese
League FIBA European Champions Cup

The 1971–72 FIBA European Champions Cup was the 15th installment of the FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague). The Final was held at the Yad Eliyahu Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 23, 1972. It was won by Ignis Varese who defeated Jugoplastika by a result of 70–69.

Competition system

23 teams (European national domestic league champions, plus the then current title holders) played knock-out rounds on a home and away basis. The aggregate score of both games decided the winner.

The 8 teams qualified for the Quarterfinals were divided into two groups of four. Every team played against the other three in its group in consecutive home-and-away matches, so that every two of these games counted as a single win or defeat (point difference being a decisive factor there). In case of a tie between two or more teams after this group stage, the following criteria was used: 1) one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average; 3) individual wins and defeats.

The group winners and the runners-up of the Quarterfinal Group Stage qualified for the Semifinals. The final was played at a predetermined venue.

First round

*Jeunesse Sportivo Alep withdrew before the first leg and 17 Nëntori received a forfeit (2-0) in both games.

Second round

*Academic qualified for the next stage of the competition as the winner of this match-up, but the Bulgarian club later withdrew alleging that most of their international players has been summoned to play a series of Communist Block tournaments (the real reason was to prepare the Pre-Olympic Tournament though). Later, FIBA fined Akademik for this intentional withdrawal and invited Levi's Flamingo's to take their place in the Quarter finals group stage.

Automatically qualified to the group stage

Ignis Varese (title holder)