Eduard Portela: The man who changed Spanish basketball

The sad news of Eduard Portela's passing last Thursday left Spanish basketball in mourning. We are talking about one of the most influential leaders in the sport, next to Raimundo Saporta. There is an important difference: Saporta operates from the partiality of his position as vice-president of Real Madrid, while Portela, despite his origins in Barcelona, ​​has exercised an impartial management from his position as president of ACB and ULEB.

Eduard was a close and friendly character, with whom I had a close relationship throughout my fifty-year journalism career. I got to know him as technical director of Barcelona, ​​where he played a key role in the team's revival with the appointment of Ranko Zeravica, who believed in young talent and brought players like Solozábal, Epi and Sibilio to the first team. However, subsequent incompatibility with Antoni Serra forced him to leave the office of the Palau Blaugrana, where he went with the support of Ramón Ciurana. But his estrangement was only a matter of days, because immediately the trio of José Luis Rubio (CAI Zaragoza), Juan Fernández (OAR Ferrol) and Antoni Novoa (Granollers) entrusted him with the position of director of ACB, where he had to skillfully deal with a difficult start to the first tournament, without a legitimate champion due to Barcelona withdrawing from the 1984 final against Real Madrid, in protest against the unfair penalties. of the Competition Committee. Gradually, basketball has become a pioneer sport in the changes it has introduced in the format of its tournaments.

In the tournament, the play-off formula was applied, and the King's Cup was no longer played in qualifying rounds but was held centrally in one city, first with a "final four", to increase the number of participating teams to the current eight. Another important achievement was that the refereeing organization moved from the Federation to the ACB, with control over designations, which gave independence to the league. In 1991, a year after assuming the ACB presidency, Portela doubled his responsibilities, becoming head of ULEB, the organization that brought together Europe's biggest leagues, merging to create the Euroliga. An ambitious project to replace the old European Cup, removing all organizing rights from FIBA, which lost its flagship tournament overnight. This is something other sports, such as soccer, have been trying to do for years but have been unable to break their ties with UEFA. All of this proves that Eduard was a manager far more advanced than his time, with a futuristic vision that made him an unparalleled manager. However, the image of Portela would not be understood without the presence of Maria Planas, his indispensable companion who, although they had no children, shared a great passion for basketball, for which Maria was one of the most recognized female coaches. From here, I would like to express my condolences for an irreparable loss. Unfortunately, age does not forgive and at the age of 91, we have lost a figure who was loved and admired by those who had the opportunity to know him. Because they were loyal to their roots, Eduard and Maria often did not miss any of the dinners we organized for Bob Guyette's friends, whenever the former blaugrana striker from Kentucky came to Barcelona. My friend, basketball will miss you because people like you don't come along very often. Please rest in peace.