1968–69 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup

1968–69 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup
League	FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup
Sport	Basketball
Finals
Champions	Slavia VŠ Praha
Runners-up	Dinamo Tbilisi

The 1968–69 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup was the third edition of FIBA's competition for European basketball national cup champions, running from December 1968 to 17 April 1969. 22 teams took part in the competition.^[1]

The final, held in Vienna, confronted for the first time two clubs from the Eastern Bloc. Slavia VŠ Praha, which had lost the previous edition's final to AEK, defeated Dinamo Tbilisi to become the competition's first Czechoslovak champion.^[2]

Participants

Country Teams Clubs Austria 1 Handelsministerium Belgium 1 Royal IV Bulgaria 1 Levski-Spartak Czechoslovakia 1 Slavia VŠ Praha East Germany 1 Berlin 1893 Finland 1 Helsingin Kisa-Toverit France 1 Stade Auto Lyon Greece 1 Panathinaikos Hungary 1 Soproni MAFC Israel 1 Hapoel Tel Aviv Italy 1 Fides Napoli Luxembourg 1 Nitia Poland 1 Legia Warsaw Portugal 1 Benfica Romania 1 Steaua București Scotland 1 Boroughmuir Soviet Union 1 Dinamo Tbilisi Spain 1 Picadero Sweden 1 Solna Turkey 1 Altınordu West Germany 1 Bayern Munich Yugoslavia 1 AŠK Olimpija

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Nitia	121–186	Bayern Munich	64–84	57–102
Altınordu	123–149	AŠK Olimpija	57–70	66–79
Solna	141–177	Picadero	70–80	71–97
Boroughmuir	127–212	Royal IV	52–103	75–109
Steaua București	186–153	Hapoel Tel Aviv	89–58	97–95
Handelministerium	119–171	Panathinaikos	84–76	35–95
Soproni MAFC	155–171	Levski-Spartak	89–92	66–79

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bayern Munich	127–195	AŠK Olimpija	81–101	46–94
Picadero	151–161	Berlin 1893	82–79	69–82
Helsingin Kisa-Toverit	160–170	Slavia VŠ Praha	74–76	86–94
Legia Warsaw	167–155	Royal IV	97–69	70–86
Steaua București	160–169	Fides Napoli	95–77	65–92
Benfica	144–221	Panathinaikos	74–110	70–111
Levski-Spartak	148–128	Stade Auto Lyon	85–53	63–75

Automatically qualified to the quarter finals

• Dinamo Tbilisi

Quarter finals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AŠK Olimpija	191–164	Berlin 1893	101–73	90–91
Slavia VŠ Praha	204–162	Legia Warsaw	113–82	91–80
Fides Napoli	0–2*	Panathinaikos	0-2
Levski-Spartak	137–146	Dinamo Tbilisi	83–88	54–58

*Originally, Fides Napoli won the first leg by 37 points (98-61), but in the return game in Athens the Italian club withdrew during halftime (Panathinaikos winning then 51-16) as a protest for what they considered a biased refereeing and many irregularities in the scoring procedure (in particular, Fides claimed that the real halftime score should have been 39-28 for Panathinaikos, and also that the first half lasted more than the regulated 20 minutes). However the French FIBA Commissar Edmond Pigeu nor the Secretary General William Jones (who was also present in the outdoor Panathinian Stadium, with more than 25,000 fans crowding the stands) saw anything irregular in this game. Later, FIBA expelled Fides Napoli from the competition and declared Panathinaikos winner by forfeit (2-0).

Semi finals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AŠK Olimpija	137–165	Slavia VŠ Praha	76–83	61–82
Panathinaikos	152–170	Dinamo Tbilisi	81–67	71–103

Final

April 17, Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Slavia VŠ Praha	80–74	Dinamo Tbilisi

1968–69 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup Champions
Slavia VŠ Praha 1st title

References