One visit to Belgrade made Maršal Glikman, the executive director of the Euroleague, change his opinion about Serbia as a basketball market.
Executive Director EuroleagueMarshal Glikman he recently spoke again about their plans for the future of the elite European competition. He talked about negotiations with investors from Dubai who want to invest money and create a new team, about the London Lions, teams from Paris, Helsinki, Amsterdam were mentioned… But also White City!
The American who arrived in Europe and started working at the top of European basketball spoke about his acquaintance and cooperation with Dejan Bodirog, who “forced” him to visit Belgrade and see for himself what Serbian basketball has to offer!
“Dejan is great. I met him when he was still playing for Barcelona with Saras, and Pešić was the coach. He was incredible as a player, like Larry Bird. He could do everything on the field. He’s really cool to work with. He comes from the Balkans, and that brings a certain mentality and has an interesting perspective on things. When I was coming here, I was of the opinion that there were not many people in Belgrade, and he immediately jumped and told me to wait, go there and see. He made me get on a plane right after Christmas and go to Belgrade. We had a great time in Serbia. I had the opportunity to feel what Belgrade is, and I saw from the example of Belgrade that not every decision has to be related only to money. Belgrade is a basketball center and a global center at that. Perhaps on a New York level, everyone in the city loves basketball. I really had a blast”Glikman told everything about his experience in Belgrade.
Now it is almost certain that the Euroleague will change its format in the coming years. There are mentions of two possible conferences, Eastern and Western, based on the NBA, and the status Red Star and Partizan is still unclear, as is the status of the special invitee that the ABA league receives every year. However, after the visit to Belgrade, it seems that the leaders of the Euroleague are more convinced of the value of Serbia as a basketball market.