Zalgiris is close to bankrupt?

The most successful Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas is hit by serious financial problems. Euroleague champions in 1999 could end up in bankrupt according to Sportalas.com. There are different numbers in the press about the size of the debts of the club. Some sources say that the debt is around 20 million Litas (6.37M Euros).

Zalgiris was negotiating with a potential investor last summer. It was though that club's budget would increase. But eventually negotiations stalled and were cancelled. The main reason of that was big debts and some hidden details.

Despite all problems, Zalgiris managed to gather a strong team by signing Loren Woods, Willie Deane, Ratko Varda and Tadas Klimavicius. Paulius Jankunas and Jonas Maciulis signed new improved deal with the club.

According to Kaunodiena.lt, Ratko Varda could be on his way to Russia already. His agent is negotiating with Enisey Krasnoyarsk.

The future of other players is safe at least for now. They are not being paid their wages though. Only a last minute decision stopped them from staying at home instead of going to play BBL game against Valmiera from Latvia.

Zalgiris lost two consecutive away games in Latvia – against Valmiera and ASK Riga. The second game was lost by 18 points. It is obvious that the situation is affecting players and if they don't get their wages in a short time, they might decide not to play at all.

So far the future of one of the best known European clubs is in question.