The head coach of the women's senior volleyball team of Montenegro, Nikola Masoničić, has resigned from that position, the Volleyball Federation announced.
In a letter to the Volleyball Association, he announced that due to obligations at the club, he could not lead the national team in the European Championship qualifiers.
"Unfortunately, due to club obligations, I am not able to lead the national team at the upcoming European Championship qualifiers. Last year, I signed a two-year contract with Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia with an agreement with the club that I could also be a coach," said Masoničić.
He said that due to the postponement of the start of the season in Saudi Arabia (September 15), the club insists that we start preparations at the beginning of August and there is no understanding for a one-month delay.
"I was informed that the eventual termination of the contract would only be possible with compensation. I want to thank the leaders of the Serbian National Army, above all the president Cvetko Pajković, for the chance he gave me to be the selector of the senior national team for almost four years. I tried to justify it with my work trust," Masonicic said.
He thanked the entire professional staff for the maximum professional relationship and the players, who, as he said, always did what he asked of them without question.
"I would also like to wish the entire team good luck in the upcoming qualifiers, with the wish that they will qualify for the European Championship, which the players and the Association certainly deserve," says the letter delivered by OSCG to Masoničić.
The board of directors appointed Milorad Krunić, an expert from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was the coach of the Croatian team Marina Kaštel for a long time, as the new coach.
From this season, Krunic will be the coach of Herceg Novi's volleyball team.
He was born on March 9, 1981 in Ljubinje.
He started his coaching career in 2002 in Ljubinje, where he won the junior championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He continued his career in Serbia, where he won the Vojvodina League in 2005 with the Novi Sad team, the Third League with the Mladost team in 2007 and the Second League with the Dunav Volley team in 2010.
From 2012 to 2016, he worked in the Croatian senior national team as an assistant and won second place in the European League in 2013 and placement at the European Championship in 2015.
Since 2013, he has led OK Marina Kaštel and in nine seasons played in 12 senior finals and won five trophies.
In the season behind us, he won the Croatian Cup and played in the playoff final.
Volleyball club Herceg Novi, which recently won placement in the First League of Montenegro for female volleyball players, chose Krunić as a long-term solution in the position of coach.
Krunić was the first coach of the long-time representatives of Montenegro Gojko and Božidar Ćuk.
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