Sport Basketball No. of teams 10 Continent Europe | Founded 1933 Country Luxembourg Most recent
champion(s) Amicale (6th title) | |
The Nationale 1, officially named the Total League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest basketball league in Luxembourg. The league's governing body is Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Basketball (FLBB). Prior to the 2012–13 season, the league was known as the Diekirch League.
Contents
About
As the league is semi-professional, all clubs are run as not-for-profit. Each team in the league is allowed to have two American players on the roster. While most local players do not receive a salary, American players are paid.
There are two player statuses: JICL (French acronym for "player registered with a Luxembourgian club") and non-JICL. To be classified as JICL, a player has to have obtained a license from a FLBB club before their 16th birthday, or have one for at least three seasons between their 16th and 21st birthday. Prior to the 2013–14 season, each team was only allowed two non-JICL players, no exceptions. In July 2013, the European Commission adjudged the ruling was contrary to the Schengen Agreement. Following that decision, the rule was scrapped and replaced by a gentlemen's agreement to keep the number at two, though some have signed a third non-JICL player, arguing they were part-time players.
Format
During the regular season, each team plays the other nine teams twice, one at home and one away (10 teams, 18 games, 18 rounds). After this, the top six teams move on to the second stage, where they play a further 10 games against each other. The top four teams at the conclusion of the second stage move on to the playoffs. In the semi-finals, the No. 1 seed plays the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed plays the No. 3 seed. The winner of each best-of-three semi-final moves on to the Finals series to decide the title (also best-of-three).
Meanwhile, the bottom four teams after the regular season join the best four teams from the second-tier Nationale 2 to play for relegation and promotion respectively. The two worst ranked Total League teams are relegated whilst the two best Nationale 2 teams are promoted.
European competition
Luxembourgian clubs have not participated in European competition since 2002, the last year FIBA organised the FIBA Saporta Cup, with the FLBB bemoaning the separation between FIBA Europe and ULEB and the move away from a single-elimination format. Some of the requirements for participation in the FIBA-organised European third-tier EuroChallenge that restrict their participation are: a €5,000 registration fee notwithstanding other costs, an arena that seats at least 2000 without non-basketball lines, and games played on weekdays.