“Vilnius city municipality has never promised a specific amount nor committed to providing funding, so any alleged promise was not broken because it was never made,” A. Bužinskas told BasketNews journalist Lukas Malinauskas.
“The entire operation of ALK in organizing this championship is an example of how not to do it,” continued one of the city leaders, urging to seek accountability from the former and current ALK leadership – Mindaugas Balčiūnas, Vydas Gedvilas, Dominykas Domarkas – but not ruling out the possibility that the capital will contribute to the organization of the championship.
– They were very clever to take on a lot of commitments, and then started thinking about how to raise the necessary funds to fulfill them. Currently, less than 15% of the budget needed for the championship is secured from private sponsors. The rest of the funds are intended to be covered by taxpayers’ money. Classic.”
Soon, A. Bužinskas commented more extensively on this story on his Facebook.
“I hoped I wouldn’t have to comment on the activities of the Lithuanian Basketball Association, but today’s press conference of the Association’s Executive Committee raised an eyebrow and confirmed that real changes in this organization have not yet occurred.
Following the old predecessor traditions, the general director Dominykas Domarkas shone by accusing Vilnius city municipality of allegedly not securing €1,300,000 funding for the European Women’s Basketball Championship.
Vilnius city municipality has never promised a specific amount nor committed to providing funding, so any alleged promise was not broken because it was never made. Even when the first ALK letter to FIBA about the desire to organize the championship was written, at our request the financial commitment part from the city’s side was removed.
For comparison – the entire annual budget for sports initiatives and events funded by Vilnius city is about €1,500,000.
Still, Vilnius can definitely allocate funding for the championship and, as was said at yesterday’s live meeting with ALK representatives, we will propose this to the Council. I have no reason to believe the city council would not agree. We are proud that the European Women’s Championship playoffs and final will take place in Vilnius. However, we imagine both the allocated amounts and cooperation principles quite differently.
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The entire operation of ALK in organizing this championship is an example of how not to do it. And the difficulties being experienced now are primarily the responsibility of the former and current ALK leadership — Balčiūnas, Gedvilas, Domarkas.
They were very clever to take on a lot of commitments, and then started thinking about how to raise the necessary funds to fulfill them. To date, less than 15% of the budget needed for the championship is secured from private sponsors. The rest of the funds are intended to be covered by taxpayers’ money. Classic.
I don’t want to believe that a serious organization would solve its problems in such ways — by looking for scapegoats in the public space.
Today, we can only wait for October 14 and the election of the new ALK leader, after which, I believe, the old ways of handling affairs will be finally eradicated, and real changes in the organization will occur.”
ALK General Secretary D. Domarkas spoke about Vilnius municipality’s unfulfilled promises during Thursday’s press conference.
We remind that the European Basketball Championship in Lithuania is scheduled to take place next year, with playoffs and the final planned in the capital.
