By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Starting a new season under compromised financial circumstances isn’t the best scenario for a basketball team. However, Cibona Zagreb debuted in the 2023-24 ABA League with an 86-79 loss against Borac Mozzart while some problematic issues are ongoing.
Without FIBA’s Letter of Clearance for three players – Alex Stein, Domagoj Proleta, and Tomislav Buljan -, the Croatian team tried to find a way to make them available, requesting permission to ABA League. The first one played, but the latter two didn’t show up for Cibona.
Interviewed by MeridianBetSport, Cibona Zagreb’s sports director Dalibor Bagaric commented on the current situation. “We have requested the LOC. FIBA issued it and forwarded it to the Federation, which did not forward it to us because we have debts from last year. And that’s the whole fame. We cannot register players for the domestic championship, but the ABA league also needs LOC. In short, a confused situation arose due to communication. But I believe that the problem will be solved soon”, he first said.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Dalibor Bagaric remains optimistic. “We work in both fields at the same time, financial and sports. We want to stay on the field in the ABA league and the domestic championship. We have a young and powerful team that has shown some quality, and it will be even better when we complete ourselves, that is when we register the announced reinforcements. We think it is a question of the day because it did not come about just because of some bad communication”, the former Olympiacos and Fortitudo Bologna player commented.
Touching closely on what can be FIBA’s reaction following the ABA League’s authorization to register new players, the 43-year-old hopes a solution will be found. “FIBA did what it could. It issued the LOC, which is forwarded to the clubs through the association. The association has the possibility to keep those letters until we settle the debts, and do they have the right to sanction us in that way in the ABA league as well? I would like HKS, the ABA league, and us to agree for the benefit of basketball, and not for anyone to think about sanctions that do not answer to anyone. We need to communicate… I hope that the problem will be solved in the end”, Dalibor Bagaric ended.
PHOTO CREDIT: ABA League