By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
ASVEL parted ways with Zvezdan Mitrovic on Thursday, after reports of ‘serious misconduct‘ from the coach’s side. Club owner Tony Parker spoke to L’Equipe about Mitrovic’s departure, confirming the tense relationship between the club and the coach.
“There is a procedure underway so I cannot go into too much detail. It is obvious that it is not linked to sports results. But when you are at ASVEL, you have a certain image to convey, respect to show, and results are not everything. There were limits that have been crossed. Things that had been negotiated with him, before his contract, that he had to respect and he did not respect them”, tells Parker.
The ASVEL owner also went back on his statements back in January, in which he said that Mitrovic would be “part of the team as long as he wanted”. However, rumors of the coach’s departure started circulating in April.
“In fact, in my position, I always try to protect the coach. My statements in January, they were just in my philosophy to always try to protect him, in relation to the team in particular. Even if I knew that we had big problems. It just wasn’t possible anymore”, Parker added.