“We want to leave Perasovic, but he is from Croatia, there is pressure on the family. A brave man.” Interview with the President of UNICS

UNICS beat Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar at home on Tuesday (98:89) and won gold medals in the VTB United League. The last playoff series ended with a 4-1 win for Kazan. This success was the first for UNICS in the history of its participation in the main national tournament.

– How is the victory perceived the next morning? Better than evening?

– Feelings are just as good. Many calls, hundreds! And at night, and in the morning, I don’t have time to pick up the phone. Of course, it’s very nice, because we’ve been waiting for so many years! They won FIBA ​​Euroleague, Eurocup, Northern European Basketball League, Russian Cup three times, lots of silver, bronze. And for the first time they became national league champions. And this is our greatest achievement. Congratulations to the government, to the ministers, to the ordinary people, to the workers who know me. This is a great achievement for Tatarstan. Kazan is considered by many, including ourselves, to be the capital of Russian sport. The victory of UNICS confirmed this. A landmark event for the supporters, a full house at all the matches, starting with the series against Zenit. Total sale of tickets, not a single empty seat.

I didn’t expect that, to be honest. Of course, it stimulated. And the responsibility lifted, and the pressure was valid.

– Literally? Have you ever taken a sedative during a game?

– It didn’t come to that. There are other ways to calm down, those of men. Used or not? I will keep this a secret.

– Any large-scale celebrations coming up?

“We haven’t decided on the details yet, but yes, we have to decide quickly. A lot of team members want to leave, before that we will organize a big joint party. On Saturday, a reception with the head of the republic and a award ceremony are scheduled at the Kazan Kremlin.

– What will you answer to those who say that your success is not only the victory of UNICS, but also the defeat of CSKA?

– I do not agree. I have a lot of respect for the army team, but basketball is basketball. Various circumstances. CSKA have been first all season, we were second. Then Shved’s injury, other factors… The army team is a powerful team, I appreciate the work of Andrey Vatutin. However, in sports, luck and the errors of the coach in the construction of the game decide a lot. In addition, one cannot fail to note the excellent work done by Lokomotiv-Kuban. Krasnodar played very well. They already had the money in the VTB United League, but ten years ago. The current second place is a big positive leap. We weren’t over the top, but we had a head start. A minute in basketball is a lot, maybe we were better in the deciding seconds.

And CSKA is a big club worthy of the name. Next season they will see their mistakes again, and we will be proud of them again.

– Velimir Perasovich’s contract ends. Will there be talks about his future?

– There was a preliminary discussion, but there are no details yet. Naturally, we want to leave it. The coach has his own situation, let’s call it family. Plus the attitude towards us abroad. Perasovic comes from Croatia, there is a certain politics, there is pressure on the family. With Serbia, it would be easier. And we still want to leave Velimir. He is a brave man, after winning the decisive match, he had tears in his eyes. Still, he made his way. Velimir has been close to professional success several times in Turkey and Europe, but almost never reached the top spot. And then he won. Such success in his biography, in my opinion, did not happen. I know Perasovich really appreciates our attitude towards him, the fans and the club management. We supported him in everything.

– Is the contribution to the victory of Stanislav Eremin your adviser?

— The contribution is mainly historical. We used to create a lot in UNICS, but now Eremin is mainly engaged in leading youth and children at the club, he oversees the Junior Junior League and UNICS-2. I can’t relate it directly to this victory. For its part there are tips, advice, support. That’s enough.

– Do you deeply regret that due to international isolation, such a long-awaited victory has become a success for domestic use?

– We were in the top eight of the Euroleague, we were one step away from the Final Four. This is what we lack now, especially in terms of public interest. When Barcelona and other big clubs won at home, it was a great event for the fans. What does a person need? Bread and entertainment. The second UNICS has always tried to provide. Now part of the show is gone. To compensate, the VTB United League made the playoffs up to four wins. But the Europe of basketball is still not enough, it has pulled us up.

In addition, today we are limited in transfers. Although “restricted” isn’t quite the right word, I’m proud of the players on the current team. But creating a competitive team has become more difficult. Top players who understand that they cannot play in Europe are not so easy to attract to a Russian club. However, we have a big country, Belarusians play in the United League, negotiations with Israel are almost over, as far as I know. Sport should not be isolated, it is not politics. Therefore, we don’t have enough international matches.

– Will the UNICS be overhauled next season?

We have six foreigners according to the limit. I would try to leave them all. With the Russians, it’s a little different, we want to look for talent in the Super League and in the youth championship. This component needs to be strengthened, address the problem. All current players are good and would definitely be useful, but after wins the price increases for them. People don’t come to us for a big salary, my budget is lower than many Russian clubs. I will not quote the amounts, but it is public information, we are fourth in terms of funding in the VTB United League. Naturally, after the gold medals, the players and the coach are solicited, they are offered higher conditions. Realities must be taken into account.

But people like Nenad Dmitrievich, of course, want to keep. He himself wants to stay, although he is on loan with us. Young, with a winning instinct, his child was born in Kazan, he loves our city. Kazan is not inferior to Europe in terms of beauty, convenience and nature, we have the Volga, Kazanka, Kama, forests, infrastructure, roads, interchanges … Many people want to stay, but what is the price of the problem? She grows up.

Will the UNICS budget increase next season? Decrease?

– There is absolutely no upward trend, we haven’t expanded the scope in this regard for a good five years. If anything grows, it is to the detriment of spectators, ticket prices, the rental of sports facilities. Unlike other clubs, the palaces of UNICS are its property, not the municipal ones. We actively provide space on a commercial basis, but it’s not the amount, to be honest, that significantly increases the budget. In general, I rely on stability. It is only important to understand where the dollar and the euro will move, to some extent we are tied to it in our calculations. After all, the sponsors only pay us in rubles, there are no exporters among them.

– Do you think the VTB United League is moving in the right direction?

– There are different opinions, I speak badly. We need to grow, and the league is working in this direction. The country is huge, there should be more teams, there is a Super League, where you can draw replenishment, not to mention the level. This issue is best conveyed to the league. I won such a victory yesterday that I can only praise the VTB tournament. Thank you for coming to present awards to Sergey Kushchenko, Ilona Korstin and almost the entire league apparatus. They went to all the final matches, including Krasnodar, which was difficult to reach, although they could not carry the cup back and forth.

After all, we not only won the league, but also became Russian champions. We are waiting for CSR medals, perhaps in the person of Andrei Kirilenko he comes to us less often. We’ll call and find out. Still, the federation has many other tasks – children’s basketball, mass basketball, etc. There are nuances, but we will not talk about them. Leader clubs – professional level, and it is support for regions, finances and halls. The league can’t do much here, the support of the federation is important.

– Not all teams participate in the Russian Cup, although there are no European cups. Maybe make participation mandatory?

– If you put it in the calendar, you can, of course. The Russian Cup was once a very high level tournament. I remember we won by one point against CSKA in Yekaterinburg, we experienced a great triumph. Now the role of the Cup has been lifted, but even I regret that we got into it. And CSKA, for example, did not participate, Zenit gave up. When everyone participates without fail, then the value of the tournament will increase, the clubs will prepare for it. In the meantime, it’s something like training for us. Nobody really follows, nobody asks for the result. There is a cut, no – almost a passing moment. About 5-7 years ago, I remember, they received the trophy itself – indescribable, small, not even a bottle of champagne. It’s probably big now, I don’t know.

– What do you personally lack to be happy after yesterday’s victory?

– Youth. The age is already advanced, almost 82 years old. I’m not complaining, the children help, the public supports. Thank you all. But the validity of the expression “if youth knew, if old age could” cannot be annulled. And so I’m pretty happy.

Live broadcasts of VTB United League matches were broadcast by and other holding channels, as well as sportbox.ru and matchtv.ru websites.