Yesterday’s report that Darius Maskoliunas will be fired came true today. According to the clubs’ website the coach was forced to leave the team because he violated the contract. More specifically, the part which is called ‘an intentional negative influence towards the outcome of the game’.
It is worth a mention that there were rumours in the media before that the winner of LKL finals will be Lietuvos Rytas because Zalgiris sold it. However, these rumours were linked to the owner of Zalgiris, Vladimir Romanov.
FBK Kaunas, football club owned by Romanov, was also involved in match fixing scandals. The owner responded to such talks by accusing other clubs of doing the same thing and denying that his club was buying or selling games. The story ended with FBK Kaunas leaving the top flight of Lithuanian football.
Vladimir Romanov has made similar accusations towards the Scottish football after his club Hearts struggle in the Scottish Premier League.
After the decision to fire Darius Maskoliunas was made, Romanov offered head coach’s position to the assistant coach Gvidonas Markevicius who refused the offer. Maskoliunas was the third coach for Zalgiris this season after Gintaras Krapikas and Ramunas Butautas.
Zalgiris needs a new coach before game four of LKL finals which will be played on Thursday. According to LKL rules, the clubs are not allowed to sign new players nor coaches after March 1. This leaves only one option to Zalgiris. The new coach must come from within the club.
Luckily, they have an experienced coach working at the club. It’s Sarunas Sakalauskas who is currently Director of Sport. Although the official announcement on who’ll take charge of the club has not yet been made.
After these events Lithuanian betting companies temporary suspended all bets related to LKL finals. Basketnews.lt reports that the betting odds will be reviewed and could be accepted tomorrow.
