FIBA announced the verdict on R. Grigas’ conduct investigation on Friday. It was decided that the coach will not be allowed to engage in any coaching activities until October 27, 2030. The reason is a violation of the Code of Conduct (ethics and integrity) and FIBA’s protection policy – failure to fulfill protection obligations.
R. Grigas will only be able to return to the coach’s bench when he is 67 years old.
The strategist will also be forced to pay a fine of 12 thousand Swiss francs (about 12.7 thousand euros) and attend FIBA-approved inappropriate behavior prevention courses.
The investigation into the coach was also conducted by the association “Lithuanian Basketball”. It lasted only three days, no signs of harassment were found in R. Grigas’ behavior, and he was only given a warning.
15min contacted FIBA on Monday requesting a comment on the progress of the investigation conducted by this organization, the decision made, and how the situation was (mis)handled by “Lithuanian Basketball”.
The response was received only on Thursday evening, but the basketball governing organization refrained from providing a more detailed explanation.
We present the full FIBA response to the 15min editorial team:
“Cases of protection against inappropriate behavior require special attention to ensure a proper process and protect those who provided information. In this process, FIBA collected and reviewed testimonies, conducted witness interviews, ensured proper confidentiality protection, and gave the accused party the opportunity to be heard.
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FIBA conducted its independent investigation according to its protection system and disciplinary rules. The association “Lithuanian Basketball” cooperated throughout the entire FIBA investigation and provided the requested information and assistance. Later, the case was transferred to the FIBA Disciplinary Commission, which evaluated the submitted testimonies and made a decision. FIBA announced this news: the FIBA Disciplinary Commission imposed a five-year disqualification on Rimantas Grigas in the protection against inappropriate behavior case and will not comment further on this situation.”
We remind you that the 15min editorial team wrote about R. Grigas’ inappropriate behavior with the Lithuanian women’s national team players.
READ: Lithuanian female basketball players no longer want to endure the coach’s touches: “We just find it disgusting”
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R. Grigas, who worked as the head coach of the national team, resigned a few days after the first article was published, and the association “Lithuanian Basketball” conducted an investigation into his behavior, although its conclusions puzzled specialists.
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