Today CSKA Basketball President Aleksandr Gomelskiy and General Director Sergey Kushchenko visited the offices of Moskovskiy Komsomolets. There were at least two reasons for them to stop by for a cup of tea: to tell the venerable audience about the celebration of the 75th birthday of the Godfather of Russian Basketball, and also to discuss the further plans of the Army team which has quickly become one of the best clubs on the continent.
Aleksandr Gomelskiy admitted to journalists that on the basis of the results of the first half of the season, the team’s goals have changed. “Now we hope to make it to the Final Four,” said Aleksandr Yakovlevich. “With a great coach like Ivkovich, it’s within our grasp!”
At the same time, Sergey Kushchenko proudly noted that Russia has already begun to influence the international basketball market. “If earlier only those legionnaires who couldn’t find a club in Europe or America would come to us, then now we are competing well for good players. We chose whom we want to invite. By the way, it’s not only like this at CSKA, but also at UNIKS Kazan and Ural Great in Perm. All that remains is to learn out to earn money off of basketball like they do in the USA.”
In response to questions about the balance of power between the president and the general directory, Gomelskiy jokingly noted that he looks for money, and Kushchenko spends it. But then he added: “All decisions are made mutually.” This confirmed the answer to the question “How was CSKA able to
bring Russian national team center Aleksey Savrasenko into its roster?” Gomelskiy said that he worked the “political aspect”: vice-premiere Valentina Matvienko called Olympiakos president Sokratic Kokkalis with a request to resolve Savrasenko’s problem. However, in the end the center’s transfer went through thanks to Sergey Kushchenko and his connections in the basketball world.
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