Eduardo Portela, historic president of the ACB and great promoter of Spanish basketball, dies at the age of 91
This Thursday he died, at the age of 91, Eduardo Portela Marín, president of the ACB between 1990 and 2013 and since then honorary president of the Association.
Great promoter of Spanish basketballto which he dedicated more than 60 years of his life, his loss leaves a huge void in the world of sports in general and basketball in particular.
Born on August 30, 1934 in Barcelona, Portela had a brilliant career on the benchs, heading to Montgat, Sant Josep Badalona and FC Barcelonawith which he won a King’s Cupand subsequently leading the sports management of the Blaugrana club for nine years.
In 1982 it was a key piece in the founding of the Association of Basketball Clubs (ACB)serving as manager until 1990 when he was named president, a position he held until 2013. Since then he was honorary president of the ACB, a position that he combined with the honorary presidency of the Union of European Basketball Leagues (ULEB), of which he was also co-founder.
During his more than three decades promoting the ACBEduardo Portela was a precursor to the modernization of the competition. First, from autonomy with an organization run by the clubs themselves, and then with big changes such as the arrival of the Playoff, the All Star… and in 1983 of a Copa del Rey in a single venue format, which In 1986 it became the Final Eight that we all know and that serves as a reference to sports from around the world and remains an indelible legacy.
Nor can we forget the applause of the fans at the Roig Arena in the recent Copa del Rey in Valencia, in the last of its thousands of matches witnessed in pavilions on all continents.
The revolution with the Copa del Rey continued with the Super Cup: In 2004 it reinvented the competition with a format with semifinals and final with four teams, which today is also followed in many sports and countries.
Under his command, the ACB grew every day as an organization, clubs became more professional every day (even as a key driver in the conversion into SAD in 1992), direct management of refereeing, with the pioneering implementation of three referees per game, improvements in broadcasts and in the game.
In this process, his drive and insistence for all clubs to play in pavilions of at least 5,000 spectators was fundamental, which made the clubs and national sports infrastructures grow.
A pioneering direction always with an objective that guided it at all times: convert the ACB into the best FIBA basketball league.
His legacy is also in Europe: he was part of multiple commissions FIBA For years, he founded and presided over the ULEB (1998-2016) and was a precursor to the birth of the Euroleague, seeking that the independence and decision of the clubs about their future, achieved in the ACB, also take place in Europe.
Among the many tributes to his figure, there remains a very special one in 2024, when the basketball family met at a meal in Barcelona to accompany him and give him the great applause he deserves as a promoter and great protagonist in the growth of club basketball, being responsible for leading the ACB to be a benchmark in the world of sports.
The ACB and all its clubs send their deepest condolences to his family and friends, but also to the basketball to which he loved so much and gave so much.
