Slovenian fed's president bashes Serbian clubs, explains Doncic's fight with refs / News

Since Luka Doncic became a global name in basketball, Slovenia has been one of the favorites in international competitions. However, the roster was affected heavily by injuries, and the 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign did not allow the team to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games directly.

Slovenia will now try to advance to the prestigious tournament via a qualifying tournament. FIBA will announce the four hosts that will organize the tournaments. Slovenia won't be one of them.

"The key problem was the lack of time. By the end of November, in less than two months, we should have paid 2.3 million euros in registration fees. It is impossible for the basketball association to pay so much at the moment, let alone at once," Slovenian Basketball Federation's (KZS) president, Matej Erjavec, told Zoran Mijatović from Vecer.

"We should turn to the state again, which already co-financed the women's EuroBasket this year. In the given situation, considering that the country is rebuilding the infrastructure and homes destroyed in the floods, it is not the right time for this request," he explained.

Each year Doncic plays for Slovenia, the attention is often turned to his antics toward referees. The player himself has admitted that he must solve his temper issues. At the same time, Erjavec, who also works as a vice president at FIBA Europe, says that all of Doncic's complaints were legitimate.

"Well, this is also one such thing that we can have from my position - something will change in the future in this regard. Some of us [in FIBA Europe] are quite nervous about refereeing. The fact is that the World Cup was not officiated by the best referees in the world. And speaking of Luka - he is substantively right," he said.

Erjavec went on to explain that Doncic doesn't get the calls due to his status, a contrarian opinion of what is usually the norm. The Slovenian operative even gave an example of how Luka's play changed the game when he wasn't on the court.

"He overreacted, but he's right," Erjavec said. "If you look at the videos - at every first step when driving against a player, the defender helps himself with his hands. This is a personal foul. Either they should change the rules, or they should follow the existing ones.

And when you ask the referee why he doesn't call them, he asks you if Luka will get 40 free throws. Let him! You jokingly say that he will miss 20. But give him 40 if he deserves them, or change the rules."

"Luka is so dominant on his first step. The first foul is when he's stopped with hands, then for the second foul, he goes by someone and puts him on his back, and only the third foul is whistled when he's already on the ground. This is certainly a frustration for him.

"He is not the first player of this kind; even Michael Jordan was like that. Luka can only be compared with those greatest who somehow overcame it. Luka will also have to. The rest of us must put pressure on the criteria. The Serbs thanked us.

They said they had the best game at the World Cup right in the semifinal against Canada because Luka pressured them so much, and the judges changed the criteria a little," the KZS president continued.

In recent years, the Slovenian national team has become more and more dependent on Doncic, and the contribution of a single naturalized player as the level of club basketball in the country has declined.

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, the only Slovenian team in major European competitions, was last in its group in EuroCup last year, getting only 3 wins in 18 games. KK Krka is often a bottom-half team in the ABA League, which got beat by 40 points in a recent game in the competition.

Meanwhile, 500 kilometers to the East of the Slovenian border, two clubs from the same city play in the EuroLeague - Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. 

"The difference is in the finances. Because the state or state sponsors are behind both clubs, they can afford players like Frank Kaminsky, Kevin Punter, Mike Tobey... You can't compete with that," Erjavec said. "It was horrible that the matches were on the same day. It turned out to be a black day for Slovenian basketball, as we got a direct comparison between the top of Slovenian and Serbian club basketball."

Erjavec would like the Slovenian state to sponsor the clubs in the country as well but sees it as an impossibility in today's world.

"It would certainly be in the interest of the federation because you have to have a leading club. Last but not least, then there would be more representatives here, young people would not leave... But that is unthinkable," he said. "And not only in Slovenia. In the entire EU, it is unthinkable that the state would finance clubs just like in Serbia. They are not allowed!"

"Of course, we as a federation also cooperate with Slovenian politics; it helps us in projects, but I can't imagine they would finance the club. That was possible in the past. It is still possible in Serbia today. It doesn't suit us," Erjavec concluded.