By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda finished the season by winning a third title after the Serbian Cup and the ABA League, by prevailing 20-0 in Game 2 of the Serbian League finals.
With hosts Partizan leading 57-45, the game was interrupted due to insulting chants by Partizan fans toward the president of Zvezda, Nebojsa Covic. Then objects were thrown on the court and Zvezda players went to the lockers, followed by Partizan and the referees.
The arena was evacuated, however, the game was not continued on time and ultimately Zvezda won the game 20-0 with Partizan’s side being held responsible for the interruption and their players never returning to court. The league is expected to ratify the decision in a few hours.
The Serbian league is the fourth competition, both in number and importance, for Zvezda and Partizan after the EuroLeague, the regional Adriatic League, which is practically their domestic league but also includes non-Serbian teams from ex-Yugoslavia, and the Serbian Cup.
Zvezda had already prevailed in Game 1 in front of their fans.
Partizan’s reaction
Partizan issued the following press release complaining about the decision of the referees to suspend the game due to insulting chants, which in many cases are considered unavoidable in the Balkan region: “The second match of the Serbian Super League final between Partizan and Crvena Zvezda was interrupted at 7.55 seconds before the end of the third quarter with the score 57-45 in favor of the black and whites. The first referee of the match stopped the game because Vesna Covic (ed.note: the wife of Neboja Covic) was insulted by the crowd, which is the first time in the history of our basketball that the game was stopped due to a verbal offense. After the break, the Crvena Zvezda team retreated to the dressing room.
As a reminder, Zeljko Obradovic, Zoran Savic, Kevin Panter, Aleksa Avramovic, Nemanja Nedovic, and Milos Teodosic were insulted, but the matches were not interrupted even for a second. KK Partizan is against any insult on any basis and repeats it almost every day.
After it was requested that the hall be emptied, the black and white team waited for a long time on the court for the continuation, so that the official representatives of KK Partizan would receive information from the referees about the interruption and continuation of the match within 24 hours.
The Partizan team then retreated to the dressing room and the players were given time off. When the referees and players of Crvena Zvezda suddenly appeared on the field more than an hour after the break, the players of Partizan were already at their home.
“Crvena Zvezda, the referees, and the delegate awarded the title of the national champion to Crvena Zvezda in this way, and KK Partizan does not want to participate in such a scandal”.