Bosna Replaces Monaco in EuroCup After 19 Years

Sarajevo’s Skenderija arena remembers December 4, 2007 as the longest night in EuroCup history. Bosna played Alba Berlin that evening, went through five overtimes, and lost 141-127, with Kyle Hill spending 53 minutes and 18 seconds on the court. Despite the loss, the Sarajevo club advanced to the knockout stage, where Gran Canaria ended its run. It was the only season Bosna ever played in the competition.

Nineteen years later, the club is coming back.

EuroCup organizers announced on September 1 that Bosna is taking Monaco’s place in Group D for the 2026/27 season. The club received a one-year wildcard, and the reason for the swap is dry and administrative: the statement says Monaco failed to meet the conditions set out in the competition regulations, without specifying which requirements were at issue.

Why was Monaco knocked out of the competition?

Behind that short statement lies a crisis unlike anything the reigning French champion has faced in years. The French Basketball Federation (FFBB) rejected the club’s request for an urgent review of its status, leaving Monaco without a place in the professional tier of the domestic competition. If nothing changes, the club would at best start next season in the third tier of French basketball. That makes the timing especially painful, since signs of financial stabilization and possible new sponsors have surfaced in the meantime, help that appears to have arrived too late to save the EuroCup spot.

According to “Sport klub,” Monaco is trying to find a way out somewhere few would expect: the ABA League. Club officials reportedly contacted the regional competition and offered as much as 500,000 euros just to secure a spot starting next season. The ABA League assembly is scheduled for September 4, and according to available information, the idea could come up for discussion there. The odds that Monaco will actually end up playing in the same league as Partizan and Zvezda look slim, but sources don’t rule it out entirely.

Who is waiting for Bosna in Group D?

Bosna opens its EuroCup return on September 30 against Lietkabelis. Both sources, the organizers’ statement carried by b92 sport and Kurir’s report, agree that the Lithuanian club is Sarajevo’s first opponent. The rest of the group is reported with a small discrepancy: b92 sport lists Group D as Lietkabelis, Bahcesehir, Balkan Botevgrad, Manresa, PAOK, Ulm, and Roma, while Kurir’s rundown leaves Manresa out.

For a club that has been outside this tier of European competition since the 2007/08 season, this is not the kind of break that comes around often. That 2007 Sarajevo side had five players log more than 40 minutes on the court, in a match still cited as a EuroCup record. Now the club gets the chance to write a new chapter instead of just retelling the old one.

How the ABA League assembly handles Monaco’s request on September 4 is worth watching, since the outcome could reshape the regional competition where Serbian clubs also play. For Bosna, though, the calendar is already set: September 30, Lietkabelis, the first match after 19 years away.

For fans at Skenderija, this is a celebration after almost two decades of waiting, but the European scene has changed considerably in the meantime. Group D, where Bosna now starts out, brings together clubs from several different countries, from Turkey to Italy, and that alone shows how much the EuroCup field has grown since Sarajevo last played at this level. The question isn’t just whether Bosna will justify the wildcard, but whether Monaco will have anywhere to play once September is over.