By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It was a shock to many, specially Olympiacos’ fans, but also a very justified decision. When Dusan Ivkovic returned to Athens and scheduled a meeting with Olympiacos’ brass he had already made his mind. The 69 years old coaching legend from Belgrade wants to focus all his attention to the Serbian national team, a project that he took over again in 2008.
As he said in a written statement: “In our scheduled meeting with the president Mr. Panagiotis Aggelopoulos and vice president mr. Giorgos Skindilias we talked and analyzed the conditions that are forming in Greek basketball and Olympiacos in a time of economic crisis and also my own weariness the last three years by my combined duties in the Serbian National Team and Olympiacos. All those factors led me to the decision to not stay in the Greek club. I would like to thank from my heart the presidents, the management, my collaborators, the players and all Olympiacos’ fans”.
There is also an official press release from Olympiacos: “The club totally respects mr. Ivkovic decision. As it was pointed out from him, if in the future he would like again to work in a club, then his only choice will be Olympiacos”. Duda wanted to leave when he is still on top and the timing couldn’t be better for him.