The turmoil caused by Željko Obradović’s resignation as head coach of KK Partizan has still not subsided. After a spectacular welcome at the airport and subsequent negotiations with the club’s management, Obradović confirmed his initial decision to step down from the black-and-white bench.
Partizan president Ostoja Mijailović appeared on the show “Direktno sa Minjom Miletić” to speak publicly for the first time about the event that has shaken all of basketball-loving Serbia. The program was broadcast live on Sportal’s website.
Live appearance of Ostoja Mijailović
20:57 – I hope we’ll beat Bayern and send Željko off in a beautiful way. I see some groups on social media calling for fans to storm the court. I beg them not to do that. Let them chant at me or whoever they want, just let the game remain peaceful. We will not allow anyone to enter the court; we will not allow ourselves to be disqualified from the EuroLeague. Partizan has to continue, it’s 80 years old. It’s older than Ostoja, older than Željko, older than all of us. Partizan is bigger than all of us.
20:56 – Next year is an election year; let all the experts who think they can take my place show up. Eight years ago no one wanted to bring even a bottle of water to this club because we were in debt. Now everyone finds it interesting because we have cash in the account. And why wasn’t it interesting back then? Why didn’t they bring in sponsors all those years?
20:55 – When I brought Željko, I was the best; when he leaves, I’m the worst. Even though Željko is leaving of his own will, even though we tried a million things to keep him. It was the same when Trinkijeri left — apparently that was also my fault. I know who is spinning things, who is releasing unverified information. Željko never had the ambition to interfere in the board’s work; he cared only about the court.
20:53 – We will not burden the new coach with sporting goals. Nothing is lost yet; with the support of the fans, the team can regroup. Whoever refuses to listen will be removed from the club; we will put them on a blacklist, and then let’s see when they’ll find a new club. We need to regroup and start winning. We must survive as a club; after that, anyone who wants can run for president.
20:51 – If the board’s resignation would solve the situation, I can submit it tonight. But we have contracts… When I came to the club, we had 15 million in debt and a budget of barely over one million. I want to ask the fans — it’s hard for all of us, and perhaps hardest for me because I was very close to him… Let them insult me because Željko wanted to leave, because he couldn’t endure anymore. Just let them allow the players to play.
20:50 – I will come to the Bayern game if I’m not traveling. I have no problem showing up even when the fans insult me. They insulted Duško Vujošević, Dragan Kićanović, Saša Danilović, Tolet Karadžić, Đurić, Zečević… We’re always guilty, and never deserving of praise.
20:49 – Maybe I could have called Željko earlier, when I first saw he was dissatisfied; maybe that is partly the fault of the sporting director. It was boiling inside Željko, and then it exploded.
20:47 – We haven’t contacted any coach yet. First we want a sporting director. I haven’t seen Trinkijeri since he left Partizan. I don’t want to speculate with names. As for the coaching staff, Vladimir Androić has also resigned.
20:46 – Željko’s resignation is final and the board does not need to confirm it. Everything that has been appearing in recent days — Partizan does not deserve this. Neither Partizan nor Željko as the greatest European coach. Members of the board give millions of their own money every season; they don’t deserve this. We are the healthiest club in Europe, and no hustlers will tear us down.
20:45 – The President called me to ask what the situation is, because peace in the country is important to him. He doesn’t deal with Partizan. Nor would I ever allow him to interfere with the club’s work.
20:42 – Partizan fans don’t like hearing about the club’s ties to the state, but they love big budgets. There’s no romance here; this is business. We always had support from the state. I’m responsible for money in the club, and the state always delivered the promised funds, increasing them year after year. I won’t discuss how much the coaching staff earned in the past four and a half years. They earned what was agreed, but I won’t talk numbers.
20:41 – Those spreading spin and sending people to scare our players are unaware of the tension they’re creating. I worry least for myself — I can take 1,000 blows. I was in Kosovo at 19 and never faltered. I worry for the targeted players, but they must continue playing. We don’t have a second team, and the club will protect them. Those who caused problems will be punished, and that’s that.
20:40 – The story about Bonga leaving the club is another spin from that duo. Players under contract cannot leave without the club’s approval. They can exit their contracts only by paying compensation.
20:39 – Next week we will choose a new sporting director, and then we will personally speak with all players. My proposal for this position will be Žarko Paspalj.
20:36 – We’ve reached a situation where the players are afraid of how Thursday’s game will go. Pressure must be taken off the players; we’ll solve the issue of why they’re not listening… I think they will show a reaction; another coach will come — and what if they don’t respect him either? That’s a scandal; we pay them. I ask fans not to insult the players… The biggest loss this season is the departure of Željko Obradović.
20:33 – People at yesterday’s gathering in front of the Arena expected Željko to appear at practice. Ratko Čakarević, who removed the plates from the Korac Cup trophies, is trying to cause trouble by spinning stories with certain media about what happened at meetings. There are no internal problems — only external ones. I won’t name the second person for personal reasons. People gathered peacefully, then some guys started smashing glass — those people were hired by the aforementioned individuals. We will sue all of them. Čakarević operates in murky waters, but it won’t stay that way. In four and a half years, there has never been a conflict between me and Obradović.
20:30 – Željko once told me the system can’t function without him or me. I came to Partizan three and a half years before Željko; my term has nothing to do with the coaching position. Two people are spinning everything you read in the media. What does the club president’s position have to do with the coach’s? The club has a €27 million budget, it’s stable, everything is paid on time. Obradović resigned due to players’ disobedience, not because of money or the board’s legitimacy.
20:28 – There were never any disagreements. Our budget increased from the moment Željko arrived… He told me when he came that I needed to secure money for players, that he wouldn’t be coach if salaries were late. And when people ask why I didn’t extend his contract — because mine also expires. I can’t guarantee him anything when I don’t know my own fate.
20:25 – Željko complained that players weren’t listening, which was visible in their body language. He told me they weren’t running drawn-up plays. No one knows why; no one has an answer. Players are paid, have big contracts, and have no reason for such disrespect. Željko said goodbye to all of us warmly — I told him we haven’t given up. I immediately called Dragan Kićanović: “I’ll send a driver, come to Belgrade so we can convince him to stay.” Ten minutes later he called me back and said Obradović wouldn’t change his decision.
I called over 20 mutual friends to convince him. He didn’t want to.
20:23 – Partizan pays all salaries, taxes, bonuses regularly. We owe no one a cent. Our key player is Karlik Jones; Željko relied on him the most and communicated through him with the others. He was the key factor. They told me we must urgently bring a point guard — they suggested Nick Calathes and Bruno Fernando, and I immediately agreed.
20:22 – Discipline is extremely important due to last season’s nightclub brawl. That is one of our top priorities. Zoran Savić has been issuing fines for indiscipline and lateness since the start of the season. I won’t target players publicly… I won’t reveal who does what… They only told me some players were cursing the coaching staff and behaving abnormally. Some contracts will likely be terminated.
20:21 – Željko always bought his own tickets; Miško Ražnatović has his own season ticket. It is not true that Željko’s tickets were given to Miško.
20:18 – It is not true that Dylan Osetkowski arrived without the consent of Zoran Savić and Željko Obradović. He had an issue with a doping test, and Zoran claimed the contract wouldn’t be valid even though it was signed. Everyone thought he would fail and be sanctioned. He wasn’t, and then the question was what to do with him despite the signed contract.
Obradović always made the final decision regarding players. Jabari Parker is the most expensive signing in Partizan’s history. Željko told me that if we brought him, we would have a great player and the entire team would be built around him. I spared no money.
20:17 – I told him he could choose any position in the club, even stay in management, but he replied that he wanted to leave the system and that we had to accept it. He explained that due to health concerns, he didn’t want to risk a tragedy on the court. Some people even cried.
20:16 – The essence of his speech was that he had made a final decision, that this situation affected him deeply, and that he couldn’t live through more bad results. I begged him to reconsider… I wanted him to finish the season with Partizan.
20:14 – I told him at the meeting that the resignation was unanimously rejected. All board members said: “Željko, you must stay, just tell us what to do.” I told him there was nothing we wouldn’t do. There are witnesses and meeting minutes. I told him to give me the names of the players who disrespected him so we could immediately cut their contracts.
20:12 – I immediately informed him that the resignation was unanimously rejected, and that there were no conditions we would not meet — only that he remain coach. When he returned from Athens, he agreed to talk… I truly hoped he would withdraw the resignation. We rejected it. I told him clearly that his resignation was rejected. Čakajac, our main sponsor and vice-president, did not accept the resignation — that is false. Čakajac said we must do everything for Obradović to stay.
20:11 – Everything was spun incorrectly — we did not accept that resignation. Our PR service automatically thanks everyone; we published the letter out of respect for him. Nowhere did we accept his resignation. We had already scheduled the executive board meeting before the letter was posted, with one topic only: Obradović’s resignation. Every single member was shocked. We said to ourselves: “He must stay.” If players don’t respect him, we’ll replace all the players — we don’t care that we’re 18th on the table. Željko is much more to Partizan than a coach.
20:10 – PR had the correspondence with Obradović about the letter; I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t change a single word — that’s not my job.
20:07 – Obradović called PR, wrote his farewell letter to the fans and the club, and it was posted on the club’s social media. I was shocked. Željko wanted me to see the letter before it was published. I didn’t influence it — we have proof of that. The only topic was whether to say “final” or “irrevocable” resignation. Željko told him to publish it. He wanted it posted on the website since he has no social media.
20:05 – During the game, you could see everyone collapse in the second half. When I saw Željko at that moment, I almost cried. I rarely cry… The next morning I got a message from Obradović: “Can we talk?”
I felt he would offer his resignation. He told me: “Look, I’ve made my decision — I resign. I did this intentionally at this moment so you can find a new coach. The players don’t listen — I can’t endure this anymore.”
He said the decision was final.
20:03 – Even before the trip to Athens, Obradović complained the players weren’t listening, and that he had no solution. The day before the trip, I scheduled a meeting with Savić, Obradović, and his staff. Željko said the players weren’t listening to his decisions and he had no solution. He mentioned for the first time that he and the staff might resign. The conclusion was that after returning from Athens, I would explain to the players they must honor their contracts.
20:01 – Ostoja Mijailović confirmed at the very start of the show that Željko Obradović is officially no longer the coach of Partizan.
MORE TOPICS:
RESIGNATION OF ŽELJKO OBRADOVIĆ REJECTED: Partizan’s Executive Board made a unanimous decision!
Source: Sportal Foto: Printscreen Euronews