Crisis in Croatian Basketball: The Decline of KK Cibona

The Vukovi (the wolves) of Zagreb, the Kosarkaski Klub Cibona: the old Cibona is one of the great classics of European basketball. A team formed in 1946 and that has won two European Cups (1985 and 1986), two Saporta Cups, two Korac Cups, one European Super Cup and twenty leagues in Croatia. The team, above all, of Drazen Petrovic. The legend that gives its name to a pavilion on whose roof his number 10 flies forever, retired along with those of Mihovil Nakic (4), Andro Knego (11) and Marin Rozic (20).

La Cibona, an inevitable name of wonderful Balkan basketball, is dying. Her bank accounts have been blocked for 120 days and her monstrous debts have led her to bankruptcy. Right now, and according to information from Basketnews, the situation is extreme: he cannot participate in Croatian national competitions and cannot sign players. He has 45 key days ahead of him for his story. During that time he has to convince the authorities that his restructuring in the offices can get the entity out of the very dark financial hole in which it is stuck. If not, it will be doomed to disappearance.

Eleven days ago, on the verge of officially entering bankruptcy, the club announced restructuring and conversion into a public limited company: “Despite the great efforts that have been made and the appearance of important financial resources, the situation is still very delicate. Dialogue and valid solutions are needed for all parties, but above all we must guarantee the survival of a historic club, a basketball giant like KK Cibona.”

During last season, the players went on strike over non-payments. Both they and the coaching staff still have amounts pending collection from that last year, 2022-23. This, in a situation that had already occurred in previous seasons, led to the entity’s accounts being blocked and the team not being able to be registered by the Croatian Federation in local competitions. Any amount of money that can come in must first go to pay off those debts with the workers. In this way, Cibona now has only five players in its squad. The rest of the roster is being completed with boys from the training categories.

2023-09-22 12:37:40
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