Preparations for the World Championships will start on the 30 of June, when the reserve squad will gather for the first training camp. Players from the first team are expected to arrive on the 13 of July.
However, it is possible that players like Linas Kleiza, Darjus Lavrinovic and Renaldas Seibutis will
not be able to make it.
“It’s not a secret that we’re not in a good situation today,
one of our main sponsors stopped the support and we’re doing our best to
counter what has been lost. Talks with the government and the Sports department
have been on the way for some time already, but they’re also not doing so well
themselves.
It would be silly to think they could find an additional two or three hundred thousand Litas,” said Mindaugas Balciunas, the General Secretary of LKF.
“The Federation doesn’t have the capabilities within itself
to pay this sum after investing so much for the chance to compete in Turkey.
If we can’t solve this financial problem, there’s a possibility that we might
not be able to provide the insurance policies for out top players.
Usually the better the player, the higher cost of insuring him, so there is a possibility that players from better clubs will not play in the National Team and Linas Kleiza is among them,” Balciunas added.
“Linas is one of the top European players, a runner-up in Euroleague. He would be a big force for the team if not the axis, on which it would be built on. If Kleiza was not able to play, it would be a great loss for us,” Balciunas told BNS.
The 25-year-old Kleiza signed a two year deal with Olympiacos Piraeus last year and helped them regain the Greek Cup, which the club last won in 2002. Kleiza was also awarded with the Alphonso Ford trophy as the top scorer in Euroleague as well as being named to the first All-Euroleague team.
