By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The death of Crvena Zvezda‘s fan Marko Ivkovic in Istanbul shocked the basketball world and almost created a diplomatic incident with Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic considering coach Ergin Ataman a “persona non grata”. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called Vucic to offer his condolences, however according to the press office of the Serbian prime minister Ataman is not welcomed any more in Serbia.
Via twitter the coach of Galatasaray clarified that he called the 300 fans of Crvena Zvezda “terrorists” in the press conference after the game without knowing about the death of the 25 years old Serb. That been said, he didn’t felt the need to apologize for his word. According to the Turkish police the death of the 25 years old Serb was a result of a fight between the fans of Crvena Zvezda with no other party involved in the incident… The investigation of the Turkish authorities is still under way, so we have to wait for the final verdict.
Euroleague and Galatasaray also expressed their deep condolences and they are also waiting the end of the investigation in order to act further.
The Greek club Olympiacos sent a letter of condolences to the Serbian club about the sad story of the death of Marko Ivkovic.”There are no words to describe our feelings on the announcement of Marko’s death. We would like to express our condolences to his family and you. Sincerely yours, Olympiacos BC”