Legendary Cibona on the verge of collapse with huge debt at hand / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Ronald Gorsic/Cropix Credit Ronald Gorsic/Cropix

Once one of the true powerhouses of European basketball, Cibona Zagreb is now walking on very thin ice.

Although the club has not ceased to exist yet, the prospects of the team coming back to the greatness of the past are bleak. Croatian news outlet Sportske Novosti reports that Cibona are now about 5 million euros in debt.

Former Cibona player and coach Aleksandar Petrovic even started a fundraiser several months ago to help the club in any way possible. He hoped to collect at least two million euros but ended up collecting between 400 and 500 thousand euros.

Earlier this month, the former EuroLeague coach even took some jabs on Twitter. "Comparing the situation in the region, we see that one club (debt €5,000,000) is about to go bankrupt and disappear, and another (debt €7,000,000) is about to play in the EuroLeague," Petrovic tweeted having Partizan NIS Belgrade in mind.

Sportske Novosti also reports that the club only has three members on the administrative staff - director Ivan Matasic, the only active member of the Assembly Tomislav Seric, and sports director Marin Rozic. Also, there are only two players on the team as of now - Kresimir Radovcic and Luka Krajnovic.

A week ago, Marc Gasol's Girona Basquet announced the arrival of the biggest Cibona prospect in numerous years, Roko Prkacin. According to coach Petrovic, Roko's father Nikola, who is a former Cibona player as well, did everything to keep his son in the legendary club but his efforts were ultimately in vain.

Cibona have four outstanding cases in FIBA's Basketball Arbitral Tribunal against players just this last season - Donatas Sabeckis (€30,000 in salary), Luka Zoric (€35,000), Fran Pilepic (€9818), and Roberto Kovac (€7042).

Nevertheless, the club has already submitted the application to participate in the ABA League next season. Cibona will not be relegated from the Croatian Basketball League as well.

Cibona's big hope for the next season is attracting former Anadolu Efes Istanbul Croatian player Krunoslav Simon. He is currently 37 years old and will be playing in his last EuroBasket this September. Sportske Novosti reports that the player is currently focused on preparation for the tournament, and will weigh his options only after the competition.

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.