After the not-so-surprising collapse of Akasvayu Girona in Spain, the team of Crvena Zvezda Belgrade is also in serious financial trouble. They tried to bring back their former Bozidar Maljkovic in order to bring some order to the Red House, but Maljkovic declined the offer.
A recent article in Serbian newspaper Blic explained the difficult situation that the Serbian team is facing these days a bit:
[The] Red Star basketball club is still without a board of directors, a coach, players and, perhaps most importantly, without the all-important funding.
Sounds like nothing is in order right now. The remaining members of management are trying everything in order to save the traditional Serbian team. But the situation is not easy, with only four players under contract at the moment and a sum of €80,000 to play next year, something which is of course by far not enough to compete.
Bozidar Maljkovic, who was asked to take over the coaching job, declined to take over this duty, however. And his argumentation was pretty direct.
Having won 25 international titles and entered 7 final four tournaments, in my place, who would take over a club which will surely miss out on Euroleague basketball for the next four years at least? Money is not an issue. Anyway, coaches in Serbia earn five times less than those abroad. I will not accept becoming the Red Star head coach, and have never considered that option.
Though the Serbian star coach wants to help the team all he can, he is not ready to coach under the current conditions.
If the new board of directors want me on the team, I’ll say yes, but I won’t be there for them at all times if I can accept an offer from a European club. I just couldn’t say no to the Red Stars’ call for help, as they are a part of my life. I spent six years in the club and I would love to see Red Stars prevail.
But the situation in Belgrade is not the easiest at the moment and things move very slowly. Despite being on holiday, the remaining management is meeting in Belgrade in order to find a way out of the crisis. And like Maljkovic says:
Crises are not always a bad thing…
