On the cases of Zaragoza & Galatasaray:
The first thing, almost the only thing we’re looking at when registering clubs, is the result in the domestic leagues. I think it was Murcia, which came 3rd in 2018 and then had a poor domestic season and did not play in the BCL next year. The performance in the previous BCL season gives a guarantee only to the winner. It’s only the winner that comes back. Anybody else has to earn this position through their domestic leagues.
The fact that Zaragoza finished 3rd did not have a bearing on their registration into the BCL. Before reaching Zaragoza, we had 4 teams. Tenerife, Burgos, Manresa, and Malaga were ranked higher than Zaragoza. Spain is entitled to 4 teams, and awarding it a 5th team will create several complications that were not in line with the Regulations. The top 4 teams that applied from Spain were accepted.
I understand you’re linking this to the Galatasaray case. Here, there is a significant difference. There was no team ranked higher than Galatasaray [among the applicants]. We had 5 applications from Turkey; we didn’t have a 6th team. From Spain, I think we had 8 applications. We had teams ranked higher than Zaragoza – for instance, Murcia. If there was going to be the 5th team, we would’ve gone according to the ranking.
For Spain [and Turkey], we applied the Letter of Regulation. We accepted the top four applicants. The Board decided that because they all were part of the top seven of the Turkish League, it was a very good demonstration. So, The Board decided to award an invitation to a 5th Turkish team that was the only Turkish team that applied, which was Galatasaray.