By Kostas Giataganas/ info@eurohoops.net
With his playing career a couple of years behind him, Sani Becirovic took on the role of the sports director for Cedevita Olimpija.
While fairly new to the role and still piling up the experience, Becirovic has a clear goal in front of him. To play against his former team Panathinaikos in EuroLeague.
“I want to get to the point of coming to OAKA in the coming years to face Panathinaikos in the Euroleague! We are optimistic but also realistic, about financial data. The question is to ensure the future of the team, even if the budget falls. In the end, it is better to take 1-2 steps back and then be able to continue, as long as we do it with sure steps. As an administration, we did very well during this difficult period, with calm and correct decisions.”
However, that will have to wait while Cedevita Olimpija – as do all teams across the globe – recovers from the financial hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic and gets back on the right track. They have to worry about a sustainable budget but still find a way to stay competitive in ABA League as well as the 7DAYS EuroCup next season.
“The real challenge facing all teams at the moment is to convince sponsors that the matches will start again, and if not, all teams will have to find a solution, how to minimize the damage due to the lack of games. and possible sponsorships for next season. We have made some plans in our minds, depending on the developments. There is plan A, plan B, etc. The biggest problem is that the budget will be drastically lower than last season, but at the moment, we do not have the exact number and whether it will decrease. The situation will be very different. That is the reality. There is no extra money to create the team we originally had in mind, with the players we had in the original plan. Our fans will have to understand that, as we try to build a competitive team, it will leave its heart on the floor in every game.”
One of, if not his favorite club in Panathinaikos has also been going through some changes, and big ones at that. Dimitris Giannakopoulos is selling the club while Manos Papadopoulos left the club after a three-decade run.
While the epilogue of that is in the making, Fragiskos Alvertis and Dimitris Diamantidis alongside Takis Triantopoulos will take over the management of the Greek powerhouse. Becirovic knows very well the situation but also knows what his former teammates are capable of and is sure they will lead the team properly.
“Being in the team together is a combination of success. I believe that with patience, in 1-2 years they will be able to have the team as before, at a very high level. It is very different, that these two will deal daily with Panathinaikos, at all levels. All these years, the Giannakopoulos family has spent a lot of money on the team and made it great, but I am sure that Panathinaikos will be able to succeed again with Alvertis and Diamantidis. The people who have always been there, be there now to support them in this endeavor.”
Becirovic was playing for PAO in 2006-2008 and had an opportunity to experience the “golden era” of the Greens. That’s also a part of the reason he believes in the new management of the club which could bring back the glory days and great atmosphere inside as well as around the team.
“Panathinaikos fully embodied the meaning of the family that functioned in this way at all levels, with everyone having their role. From Giannakopoulos to the last of us, there were roles as in a family. Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos, but also coach Obradovic were like our grandparents at the same time. They were always by our side, asking us about our family and making sure that all we had to think about was basketball. From the moment the team and all of us had the opportunity to think only about basketball, the corresponding good results came.”
And everybody who had the privilege to be there and learn has undoubtedly used that in the times after, in whatever role they found themselves in.
“The team had 12-15 great players, great personalities who put the ego under the team. This is the main reason why Panathinaikos has achieved so much in those years. It is no coincidence that the team has succeeded. We now see members of that team succeeding in other roles, such as Saras Jasikevicius, who learned a lot from Zeljko Obradovic, while having the character to do great things. Anyone who was a member of that team said that what he experienced then made him better and all the members of my team say the best for that team.”