Football team

Rigas Zelli

Club · Latvia · Latvia-Estonian League

«Zeļļi»

143 Matches

91 wins

52 losses

12223–11106 Points

+1117 Difference

85.5 Average per match

Form L W L L W W

Riga's basketball landscape had belonged to VEF Rīga for decades before anyone in the city thought there was room for a second club. Rīgas Zeļļi arrived in the summer of 2023, registered that January by sports manager Edgars Buļs and general manager Artūrs Šēnhofs, and took its name from a Latvian television programme the pair had hosted — 'zeļļi' meaning greenhorns, or rookies. The pink and blue kit followed the same instinct.

Juris Umbraško took the debut squad into its first season, and by May 2024 Zeļļi were already playing in the Latvian Basketball League final, where VEF beat them 4–1. A Latvian Cup final followed the same year, and the club has spent the two seasons since collecting the medals that eluded it in 2024: bronze in the league in 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, plus a runner-up finish in the Latvian–Estonian League. Umbraško handed the bench to Dāvis Čoders in 2026, who was in turn succeeded by Rokas Kondratavičius.

The derby against VEF carries the weight of the capital; the meetings with BK Ogre have earned their own name, 'Rīgas grautiņš'. Among the players who have worn the pink and blue, Andris Biedriņš stands out simply for the name — a former NBA centre lending his profile to a club barely out of its infancy. Zeļļi's own hall, the Komandu Sporta Spēļu Halle, holds 3,000, though European nights have pulled them into the Xiaomi Arena.

What the club has built off the court has drawn as much notice as anything on it: a marketing operation sharp enough to win Latvia's Trademark of the Year in 2024, run on a budget of roughly €750,000.

Latest results

All matches

14 May	LBL	VEF Riga A	93:80	W
11 May	LBL	VEF Riga H	112:100	W
8 May	LBL	VEF Riga A	84:94	L
3 May	LBL	Valmiera Glass VIA A	93:98	L
1 May	LBL	Valmiera Glass VIA H	107:62	W
29 Apr	LBL	Valmiera Glass VIA A	102:104	L

Standing

ENBL

Group stage · Group C

#	Team	M	W	L	Goals
1	Iraklis Thessaloniki	8	7	1	728:598
2	Rigas Zelli	8	5	3	664:661
3	Dziki Warszawa	8	5	3	716:622
4	Olomoucko	8	4	4	498:583
5	Dubrava Zagreb	8	4	4	649:632
6	Spartak Pleven	8	3	5	655:687
7	Peja	8	1	7	412:547
8	Newcastle Eagles	8	3	5	628:620