Basketball Federation of BiH responds to Josip Pandža: Vujošević has freedom in choosing associates

The public correspondence continues regarding the reasons for omitting Josip Pandža from the expert staff of the BiH national team, reports the Patria agency.

Following Pandža's reaction yesterday, a response from the Executive Board of the Basketball Federation of BiH ensued.

- The expression of opinions in public regarding the recent appointment of members of the expert staff of the national team ahead of the upcoming qualifying matches of the Bosnia and Herzegovina basketball team has understandably attracted public attention, and in this regard, the Executive Board of the Basketball Federation of BiH wishes to inform the public of its positions. The significantly rejuvenated Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, even without the previous key players, achieved exceptional success in its pre-qualification performances and enabled our team to find itself in a completely new qualification system for the World Championship.

This undoubtedly great success was achieved under the excellent leadership of the experienced and renowned selector Vujošević, as well as through the dedicated work of all members of the expert staff under extremely difficult circumstances. Neither we nor the public of Bosnia and Herzegovina hid our satisfaction. The support our national team received was an incentive for achieving this exceptional result, but also an obligation to continue on the path and in the manner that led to this result, which also represents a great surprise.

Selector Vujošević had completely free rein in choosing the expert team that worked, and will continue to work, with the national team. We remind that the expert team was composed in such a way that all members had their own tasks, and we hereby express gratitude and congratulations to every individual who, through their work, enabled our participation in the World Championship qualifiers. We particularly emphasize the exclusive right of the selector to form his team without special explanations, which was and will be in its role in the upcoming matches.

The free expression of one's views, including critical tones that could be read on this occasion, is not something we need at this moment, and not only at this moment, and therefore we consider them unnecessary, not because of hiding some ineffective details from the public, but primarily because of building trust and, along with that, the cult of the national team. There were other ways to present potentially different views on any segment of the functioning of the expert staff at meetings of this body and thus harmonize positions.

We take this opportunity to invite all members of working bodies, including the expert staff, not to use the public stage for exchanging opinions, especially those that will not help create a positive atmosphere. We emphasize once again that it is the exclusive right of the selector, without influence from anyone, and without the obligation to explain anyone's inclusion or omission from the work of the expert team. Our goal is success in the upcoming qualifiers, and that is in matches against the biggest European selections.

We believe that our loyal fans will enjoy in Sarajevo, Zenica, and Tuzla, and that we will succeed in achieving our goal. We expect the engagement of every individual, from members of the expert team, players, officials, and even state institutions, to create the prerequisites and set plans for the further affirmation of basketball in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the statement reads.