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A. Sabonis is persuaded.
The legendary 222 cm tall basketball player, who has led the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) since the fall of 2011, expressed his consent on Tuesday to extend his work for another year at the Kaunas Savanorių Avenue business center .
A. Sabonis, who contributed remotely from Palanga due to health problems, confirmed the positive response.
“Arvydas agreed. He is not just a basketball player. He is a former player, he knows that the Olympic cycle has started, the qualifying tournament has moved to Kaunas, and he knows a lot of information.
Thanks to him, only he was scared and had a question: “What if there are no Olympics?” Said RemKijus Milašius, President of LKl.
Formally, his second term would end in September of this year, and A. Sabonis did not want to continue as LKF president.
But due to the pandemic, the most important basketball events moved to 2021: the Olympic qualification tournament in Kaunas and the Tokyo Olympics.
The LKF statutes allowed the president’s duties to be linked to the Olympic stages, and two associations took advantage of this condition, offering A. Sabonis to remain in office until the fall of 2021 before the start of the Executive Committee.
A. Sabonis, 55, said “yes” without seeing resistance.
In the basketball community, people named as possible candidates to replace him publicly supported his movement: LKL President Remigijus Milašius, Kaunas Žalgiris Sports Director, Robertas Javtokas, Manager of the Lithuanian Basketball Coaches Association, Vydas Gedvilas. 15 minutes as if by agreement, A. Sabonis should remain the leader of the federation for another year, and then they would consider becoming his successors.
Quiet in international waters, but assured peace on the local front
A. Sabonis has led the organization with an annual budget of approximately three million euros since 2011.
Photo by Kaunas.lt/ Vladas Garastas and Arvydas Sabonis
He then replaced Vladas Garastas and, when he later invited Mindaugas Špokas as Secretary General, he changed the direction of the federation’s policy.
LKF leaders were moderate and calm during the transformation of the FIBA basketball “window” and during the Euroleague war with FIBA, when the latter tried to intimidate some clubs that chose to play in the Cup from the Euroleague instead of the FIBA Champions League through the national federations.
A. Sabonis has not made any public statements since 2013, when he and Jonas Kazlauskas suddenly briefly resigned from the post of head of the federation, then became suspicious of the older generation. Secretary Mindaugas Balčiūnas playing intrigue games creating a wave of criticism at the start of the 2013 European Championship.
The country’s top team, the Lithuanian men’s team, took the silver podium twice during A. Sabonis’ terms during the 2013 and 2015 European Championships, and regularly stumbled in the quarterfinals at the London Olympics and Rio de Janeiro.
Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Arvydas Sabonis
In 2014, Lithuania finished fourth in the world championships, but in the last European and world championships it was behind the eight strongest, which led to a longer trip to Tokyo during the Olympic selection, for which A. Sabonis decided to raise around 3 million. euros
Summers of youth teams of all ages have become increasingly “dry” in recent years, and the Lithuanian women’s team has entered a complete desert and has not reached the European Championship since 2015.
A. Sabonis was indifferent to the shadow of betting on basketball, initially he ignored it and then he could no longer capture the attention of cancer throughout the sport, but he devoted much energy to the House of Basketball project.
2.4 million are needed. The EUR for a multifunctional building in Kaunas is slowly being raised, although in a few years it has already raised 2 million. A. Sabonis himself and his son Domantas Sabonis contributed a solid amount of euros.
Photo by Marius Vizbaras / 15min / Arvydas Sabonis
Without participating in international storms, A. Sabonis has avoided battles on the home front since 2013, and with his authority and strong support on the executive committee has left no opportunity to take over basketball management for those who previously had a higher influence on sport.
In 2016, before the second term, Sabas was the only candidate for the LKF position with all potential competitors realizing that there is no chance of beating the 222 cm tall giant.
After Tuesday’s meeting, it became clear that A. Sabonis will lead until the fall of 2021, when the leaders of 131 legal organizations will raise their hands to choose a new wizard at the postponed election conference for a year.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Arvydas Sabonis
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