The Sports Minister of Finland, has sent a letter to Unicaja Malaga, asking them to “release” Sasu Salin for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Sampo Terho doesn’t have time on his side with the qualifiers 48 hours away but he has expressed a strong desire for his best players to represent the national side.
Finland begin their campaign on Friday in Botevgrad when they face Bulgaria before returning home to square off with the Czech Republic in Helsinki.
The first game though coincides with the Unicaja clash against CSKA Moscow in the EuroLeague this Friday, so it is unlikely that the guard can play in it.
On the other hand, Unicaja has argued that it has no decision-making power in this matter since it is up to Salin to answer the call for his selection,
As mentioned in the Spanish newspaper “Dario Sur“, if Salin wants to play, he could do it, although if he does not play for his club and choose his country, he will have to face the consequences, since he has a contract with Unicaja.
“Now that we celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence and our basketball is growing to the limits that we had never experienced, everyone starts talking about it,” said Terho.
“Children start coming to the courts and everyone wants to be the new (Lauri) Markkanen.”
