MUNICH (Germany) - Croatia will switch groups with Russia in the upcoming FIBA U20 European Challengers, in response to recent travel restrictions for Russian citizens to the Czech Republic.

The change will enable the U20 Russian national team to compete in the Challengers, an event for which they had been preparing during the past weeks, while the competition continues to adhere to national regulations. 

Croatia will now play in Group A in Brno, Czech Republic, while Russia  will play in Group C in Heraklion, Greece. Croatia will  face Spain, Italy, Portugal, Albania and the Czech hosts in the Brno Challenger that tips off Tuesday July 20. Russia meanwhile will go up against Slovenia, Israel, Ukraine Belgium and hosts Greece in the Challenger in Heraklion, Crete that tips off on July 19.

FIBA Europe agreed to the switch in order to adapt to the ongoing travel situation and worked closely with the Russian Basketball Federation, the Croatian Basketball Federation and the two host federations of the Group A and Group C Challengers to implement it.

The game schedules of the two groups will remain unchanged, with Croatia and Russia replacing each other in the exact positions in the respective pairings.

FIBA