The Serbian men’s national basketball team suffered two defeats against Turkey in the qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and two days after the second failure in Istanbul, Nebojša Čović, the president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia, spoke out, revealing shocking details and the reasons why certain players did not play for the Eagles.
Head coach Dušan Alimpijević faced major problems while assembling the team, as he could not count on all the players who compete in the EuroLeague.
Speaking to the newspaper Danas about difficulties in cooperation with clubs and players, controversial refereeing decisions, as well as the unpleasant experiences Serbian fans had in Istanbul, the president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia, Nebojša Čović, gave an interview.
Čović shockingly revealed why Alen Smailagić did not play for Serbia.
“Smailagić simply did not answer the phone to anyone from the coaching staff. His club Virtus Bologna did not create any problem. We found out that he broke his phone and there was a scheduled call with the assistant coach at the club, but he did not show up at the scheduled time then either. So now you can conclude the rest yourselves.”
He also explained why Filip Petrušev, Nikola Milutinov and Marko Gudurić were absent.
“As for Petrušev, he reported a problem with his knee and cartilage and in agreement with the doctors it was decided that during the window he should rest so he could receive an injection that would address the possible problem he has. Vasilije Micić was not released by his club, and in addition he has an additional knee problem. He went to see a doctor in Munich, but basically the club did not release him and that is the main reason. Milutinov also has a knee injury, but his club would not have released him either because it overlapped with the Greek Cup (basketball).”
“However, we have a firm promise that he will be there in the summer for this ‘window’ in July. As for Gudurić, in November he had a problem with his Achilles tendon and that is why he did not come during that window, but he promised then that he would definitely be there in February. However, he did not come now. He played and was the MVP of the Italian Cup they won. He said he needed rest and came to Belgrade to receive an injection.”
He emphasized that the eternal rivals respected the agreement.
“Crvena zvezda and Partizan, as well as all other Serbian clubs, respected all agreements and released all the players who were on the national team list. In that sense we had no problems.”
Aleksej Pokuševski told the coach that he could not be part of the team even though Partizan had given permission…
“He did not accept the call-up. The club gave the green light, and Pokuševski explained to coach Dušan Alimpijević that for personal reasons he could not be part of the team. Simply, we as a Federation are not in a position to force anyone to play. I have never supported, even when I was in clubs, forcing a player to play. Of course, when someone is injured the most important thing is that the injuries are healed,” Čović said in an interview for Danas.