Cibona goes bankrupt, faces a deadline to avoid complete shutdown / News - Basketnews.com

Cibona's bank account has been blocked for 120 days due to outstanding debts, triggering bankruptcy. The organization will have 45 days to convince local authorities that the club's reorganization can pull Cibona out of the financial hole. The club cannot be registered for local competitions, it cannot officially sign new players as well.

Credit: ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic Credit ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

Cibona is one of the most storied clubs in European basketball. Years after the glory days, the organization faces unprecedented difficulties.

September 21st marks the 120th day of the club's bank account being blocked. Per Croatian law, the organization is now officially considered bankrupt.

On September 11th, Cibona held a press conference where it was officially announced that the club was planning to restructure the organization into a joint-stock company.

"Despite great efforts and the investment of significant financial resources, the club still faces a challenging period, in which a scenario such as bankruptcy due to debts to creditors is possible, which calls for dialogue and finding a solution that will benefit all parties, but also the continuation of the existence of such an important sports club. and a basketball giant like KK Cibona," the club stated.

Cibona will request the Croatian Commercial Court to prolong the period. The club now has 45 days to convince the competent institutions that the restructurization will pull the club out of the financial hole.

The club has long dealt with financial issues. During the last season, players even went on strike for unpaid salaries. The club holds debts to players and coaching staff from the 2023-23 season.

The organization's bank account was blocked due to promissory notes with the former players and coaches of the organization, the monetary amounts of which are much higher than the debts for the previous season, Tvrtko Puljic from Sportske Novosti writes.

Among the people waiting for the payments via the promissory notes are two former sports directors and multiple players from multiple seasons in the past.

The Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS) cannot register Cibona for the local competition due to the promissory notes, as they hold priority over all other payments. Without removing the protection, Cibona cannot officially participate in the tournament.

Even though the ABA League is not officially recognized by FIBA or HLS, Cibona faces trouble there as well. Three players - Alexander Stein, Tomislav Buljan, and Domagoj Proleta - have to receive exit letters from their previous clubs to be registered for the competition. The process is halted by the blocked Cibona bank account as well.

As of now, Cibona only has five players. The rest of the roster are prospects from the academy.

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