SARAJEVO
Bosnia and Hercegovina's basketball team had to turn to player Nihad Djedovic to borrow a loan in order to be able to participate in EuroBasket tournament, AA learned.
The team achieved a significant success at the championship in Slovenia, but it did not shed a light on a murky financial situation they are in.
"We just did not have money and Nihad Djedovic came and saved us. Now, we have to find the way to pay him back,“ Harun Mahmutovic, general secretary of the Basketball Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina told AA.
"And Djedovic is not the only one we have to pay back. I borrowed the money from one of my friends, and Igor Stojanovic, director of the national team, also borrowed the money from his friend for the team. The government gives us nothing,“ Mahmutovic said.
"Other teams have all the necessary conditions to do the same. We are struggling and trying to survive in every possible way to be able to compete with European teams. At the same time, the basketball association does not have even a room where we can meet, but I asked one of my friends to help us even with this,“ Mahmutovic added in a desperate complaint.
"Coach Aleksandar Petrovic is working for the team for two years without any compensation. He was awarded two years ago with 15.000 Euro because he managed to get the team to the championship. And that is all he got from us. Currently I can say that people who are working and playing for the Bosnian national team are volunteers and because the state does not care for us,“ Mahmutovic concludes.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
