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The Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and 10 of its clubs have already suffered a loss of 13 million euros, and the worst of the COVID-19 crisis hit Kaunas “Žalgiris”, which shook the country’s sporting sky when announced it was late. to pay salaries to players.
According to unofficial data, Žalgiris alone lost around 6 million euros, but the club that submitted its bid to Seimas last week is not the only one struggling with financial difficulties.
“Based on last year, I thought it would be worse. Maybe another club is a few months late. There are some, but I don’t want to talk about their names. This is our internal agreement. I am not a person like the clubs who have a report and leave information for someone. Licensing will start in April and we will see what the situation is. Our auditors are conducting and then we can talk about what is today, what is tomorrow or the day after, “said RemKijus Milašius, president of LKL, re-elected on Tuesday.
One such club is Alytus Dzūkija. Delfi.lt journalist Mindaugas Augustis announced that LKL had granted a € 40,000 loan to Dzūkija earlier this season.
“It just came to our attention then. They appealed and I indicated it personally. I am not a bureaucrat. I can raise money and see what happens in the clubs. This is not the first club. I made a decision: the money with interest will be returned in April. The club needs help. Will that money come back? I trust, “said R. Milasius.
When he took over as director of the LKL in 2013, the monetary affairs of the clubs were much simpler: he had to turn his head more seriously just because of the indebted Vilnius Falcons, but the third term has to face many more challenges. serious.
“This year is very important. The visibility of several contracts that determine the image of LKL has expired. This is the main contract with television, the online contract, the Copa Rey Mindaugas contracts. It is necessary to sign long-term contracts ( four years) And looking at the commercial minutes, we will have to plan how many sponsors we could have next year, ”said R. Milašius.
Last year’s LKL season ended on March 13. Such a decision was made by the LKL clubs, of which only Šiauliai offered to play without spectators until the end of the scheduled season.
This situation caused additional problems for the teams.
“You close the championship, you don’t get any income. Everyone reduces their costs and controls the process, it is not easy. Uncertainty arises in clubs, income is decreasing everywhere, ”said R. Milašius about the problems caused by the pandemic.
He went to the Seimas
Last week, R. Milašius, General Secretary of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) Mindaugas Špokas and Paulius Motiejūnas, Director of Kaunas Žalgiris, participated in the meeting of the Seimas Economic Committee. The latter later announced that wages were delayed at Žalgiris.
“If we do not receive compensation, it will be that the debts will lengthen and we will think about how to pay them off in future seasons. The situation is really sad. We would not ask for compensation if there were spectators, but now there is no fishing rod with which we can earn money, ”said P. Motiejūnas at the time.
Portal lrytas.lt P. Motiejūnas emphasized that the basketball players will definitely not leave because of the situation: “Žalgiris” will be able to survive with the funds available until the season, but after that he will have to think about how to pay the debts, settle with the players and what plan for the next season.
“You know, we don’t use any amounts. We just talk about the situation and the fact that, if possible, we would like to be among the organizations that have been identified as victims of COVID-19. I have no idea what amount is acceptable, but As I realized, you can hardly expect help because wanting more than there is help. After all, you cannot expect what is not so much. ” lrytas.lt said P. Motiejūnas last week.
Other clubs also plan to present their problems to the Seimas members. The biggest concern of all teams is the loss of unsold tickets.
