By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
All good things must unfortunately come to an end and for coach Dusan Alimpijevic and Bursaspor, this end was unexpected. The Uludag Beverage group, the former name sponsor of Bursaspor, announced that they will relinquish all their remaining dues and will not support the team anymore, coach Alimpijevic who had a contract for two more years was forced to step down.
It was an unfortunate situation by Bursaspor, which couldn’t cover any more Alimpijevic’s contract. He decided to move to Besiktas, where the former GM of Bursaspor, Nedim Yucel has now taken over general manager duties.
On top of that, the EuroCup coach of the year in 2022, decide to not seek any compensation from Bursaspor for the remaining two years of his contract, leaving the club as a friend, even though some fans may have a different opinion.
That doesn’t change the fact, that Alimpijevic was practically forced to leave and his contract was more than heavy for the new financial status of Bursaspor.
As he wrote: Dear friends, after two and a half years, it’s time to say goodbye to each other.
We did historical things together. What we did in the previous two years will be written in golden letters in the pages of the club’s history, and no one can take that away from us.
For two years in a row, we were in the playoffs in both competitions (BSL and Euro Cup). We were Eurocup vice champions in the 2021/2022 season and took fifth place in the domestic championship in the 2022/2023 season. For the first time in the club’s history, we qualified for the national cup in the 2022/2023 season. The audience and fans returned to the arena and loved the basketball we played.
They recognized the energy on the field and the way we fought for the club.
In competition with much larger organizations and budgets, we managed to fight for the respect of the club. The club has also become recognizable throughout Europe in terms of basketball.
In the previous two and a half years, I was dedicated to the maximum with my coaching staff and players to return all the respect we received from the club, the city and the fans. And even though,during this period I had offers to leave the club, I remained loyal to the idea and vision. Unforeseen circumstances, which happened in the last few weeks, turned me to another path.
With the deepest respect, from the bottom of my heart I must thank President Sezar Sezgin, all vicepresidents, board members for their trust and support. Also to the main sponsor Uluday company and Frutti Extra, whose name we carried and with whose support we walked the path to success together.
Special thanks to my coaching staff, management, medical staff and all the people in the club who selflessly participated in our success.
Dear fans, thank you for the emotions,love and respect.
I know that part of you will not understand the decision, but in the hope that you will still respect everything that we did together, I send my greetings.
Dusan Alimpijevic