Who is bothering Željko Obradović and why?

There is that often used, and therefore worn out, Internet phrase "death, taxes and ..." where the author has the freedom to add a third thing that he considers inevitable, just as Benjamin Franklin represented the cruelty of biology and the payment of taxes to the state. For the purposes of the text about Serbian basketball, we can easily add "fuss about the (basketball) derby" to the third place. In fact, even the words "death" and "taxes" fit perfectly into the atmosphere of the domestic basketball public, because every game is perceived as a matter of life and death, while taxes, or more precisely tax debts, are the eternal topic of their fights between our two biggest clubs. , but also numerous addresses of the President of the Republic of Serbia.

This time it was the final match of the domestic Radivoj Korac Cup. Both teams reached the end of the competition in Nis in crisis of results and game. The black and whites achieved two more victories in the Euroleague, while the red and whites practically secured the first place in the regular part of the ABA league and the home court advantage in the playoffs, but fans from both camps expected more than the 11th and 16th places in The Euroleague, especially after never-before-seen investments and loud announcements about attacking the Final Four. At this moment, it seems that winning the ABA League will determine who will end the season as successful, while winning the Cup would somewhat cheer up the fan army and raise the team's morale before the season continues.

photo: dimitrije nikolić / tanjug

"BIGGEST LIE EVER TOLD"

The pregame started already a month before the competition, with Nebojša Čović's guest appearance on TV Prva, where he threatened that Red Star will not participate in the final of the Cup if it is not held in Niš and if local referees are not officiating. There were no rumors or official announcements about the confiscation of the Niš household or the engagement of foreign judges, so the reason for this performance by Čović was not entirely clear.

The "Chair" in Niš did remain the scene of the final duel in which justice was served by Serbian judges, but not the best ones. Although Serbian basketball can boast of five Euroleague referees, none of them refereed the final between Partizan and Crvena Zvezda.

Crvena zvezda defeated Partizan in the final with a score of 85:79 and won the fourth consecutive Radivoj Korac Cup. The Red and Whites were led by Bolomboj and Teodosić, while in the Partizan team only Ledej offered a more serious resistance. During the tournament in Nis, from the side of the stands where Partizan fans are, you could hear the now well-known insults addressed to President Aleksandar Vučić, while Delije chanted insultingly against Željko Obradović during the final match, calling him a "Turk" and a "state project".

photo: dimitrije nikolić / tanjug

After congratulating the opponent on the victory, the phrase "state project" was the first important topic in Obradović's presentation at the press conference: "From the moment I arrived, there was talk about Partizan as a state project. There is no greater lie told. It must be the other way around. I am asking the people from the club to come out with all the data and to see exactly in black and white how we are a state project and how I am a state project. Let them come out freely and say. That is the biggest lie ever told.”

In the continuation of the presentation, there was talk about "three guys who were not fit to referee the final", while Obradović spoke without a hair on his tongue about his own responsibility for the team's poor results and the inability to reach his players.

"ATTACK ON THE STATE"

The first reaction came the next morning, no less than from the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić. On a guest appearance on TV Prva, Vučić characterized Obradović's presentation as an "attack on the state" and said that "there would be nothing from Zvezda and Partizan without the state." On that occasion, he pointed out that KK Partizan did not pay a single dinar for the tax debt from the money collected through the "One Partizan we have" fundraiser, which worried many black and white fans who donated money for this purpose.

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The reports submitted by the clubs to the Agency for Economic Registers related to their finances are publicly available, and more concerned fans have been interpreting and commenting on them for years through social networks, various forums and podcasts. This time the clubs made it easier for us by tabulating their budgets, state sponsorship amounts and their own income in the years for us. If we compare the previous seven years, because Partizan presented the data in a given time interval, by simple addition we can come to the conclusion that Red Star received 33,066,975 euros of state money, while the Black and Whites received 27,008,538 euros from the state.

In addition, Black and White announced that they have paid 2023 million euros in taxes since September 5,6, announcing a payment of 3,4 million euros by 31 March 3, which will settle the entire tax debt and current tax obligations. expenses. When it comes to Partizan, the only season in which there was a significantly higher percentage (2024%) of state money compared to own revenues (71,14%) is the 28,86/2020 season. which took place without the presence of spectators due to the corona virus, so the black and whites were deprived of the inflow of money through the sale of tickets, which in the following seasons became a key item of their budget.

Since the arrival of Željko Obradović in the summer of 2021, the percentage of the share of state money in Partizan's budget has been decreasing year by year - 43% in the first season, 33,9% in the second and 30% in the current season. In the same period, the state participated in the budget of Crvena zvezda with 66%, 71% and 38%.

Buoyed by the euphoria of returning to the Euroleague, the black and whites sold around 11.500 season tickets the previous season, which, along with the sale of individual tickets, brought the club revenues of around 6 million euros. This season, the limit was additionally moved, 16.124 season tickets were sold, which is a European basketball record, and club president Mijailović has stated on several occasions that he expects ticket sales this year to bring in an income of 8 to 9 million euros. Crvena zvezda followed the example of Partizan, so the red and whites also moved to Stark Arena this season and thus significantly increased the number of tickets sold (12.500), and thus their own income.

TWO SCENARIOS

Željko Obradović could have guessed how his words would raise dust, so the question arises whether he said them in a hot head or if he wanted to achieve something with them. Partizan fans fear a scenario in which Željko leaves Partizan at the end of the season, while the optimists among them believe that by presenting the data, the club has stood behind its coach and proved that Partizan is not a state project and that it does not depend on the state to the extent it was thought, and which can be a strong argument for Partizan in the fight for the A license of the Euroleague.

It is a big question whether it is in the interest of the Euroleague board and the current owners of the A license to see Serbian clubs as permanent participants, but, allegedly, the most important item is the self-sustainability of the clubs. It was self-sustainability that Obradović himself set as the strategic goal of Partizan immediately after winning the ABA League, the trophy he is most proud of in his rich career. At the end of the day, I guess the fact that since returning to the bench of the black and whites he managed to win only one ABA title and not a single domestic Cup or domestic championship speaks in favor of the fact that Željko Obradović is not a state project.

photo: marko čoković / tanjug

WHAT THE FUTURE BRINGS

The Euroleague board, however, cannot ignore the fact that the red and black and white are the two most watched teams in European basketball. Partizan is in first place with an average of 19.890 spectators, while Red Star follows closely behind with 19.191 spectators. Apart from the fantastic advertisement for Belgrade and Serbia through the mentioned figures and the atmosphere that foreigners recount, the fact that 20 thousand people fill Stark Arena every week shows that this nation loves basketball and that the country needs quality eternal rivals. There is also an additional significance brought by the eternal, which cannot be quantified - how many children started training basketball last year and this year, looking up to Panter, Kampac, Vildoza, Ledej, Naneli, Teodosić... And how many benefits they will have from that Serbian basketball team in the future?

The question remains how to reduce tensions in the domestic basketball public. For a long time, we thought that the solution was for both clubs to play in the Euroleague, but as we can see, tensions are not calming down even in the second year of their playing together. If it were possible, maybe the solution would be for these two clubs to meet only in the Euroleague, because their duels in the European competition go without interruptions, announcements, threats of not playing, empty stands and major refereeing errors. However, as soon as one enters the domestic/regional domain, problems and tension arise. Is the solution for both teams to get an A license and how realistic is that?

Obradović has repeatedly emphasized that he wants to see both Partizan and Crvena zvezda as permanent participants in the Euroleague. His reputation in the European framework is unassailable, his word is listened to, and his opinion is respected. Perhaps it would be wise to present Željko as a kind of ambassador of Serbian basketball before foreigners and the Euroleague? The question is how much it would help in the fight with the millions from Dubai or the marketing potential of Paris and London, but apart from the number of spectators and their fanaticism, the question is whether Serbian basketball in the European framework has stronger assets than the image and work of Željko Obradović.