The water polo players from Jadran M:tel and Primorac learned today the names of their opponents in the round of 16 of the Eurocup, and the first question that arises after the draw is - where will the team from Kotor play against Jug from Dubrovnik?
The former European champions face a two-legged tie for a place in the top eight, but the story will not be exclusively sports-related due to the well-known case of Croatian clubs and national teams not wanting to play in the pool named after Zoran Džimi Gopčević.
"We knew that the potential opponent was Jug. The first game is scheduled for Kotor on February 25th, our position is that we will play exclusively at our pool. We also believe that it will be a guest match in Dubrovnik," Primorac president Siniša Kovačević told Radio Kotor.
He added:
"I wouldn't raise it to a political level, although it is inevitable due to the well-known situation with the pool. We are not ready to play on neutral grounds," Kovačević pointed out.
The Croatian government had previously recommended that its clubs and national teams not play in the Kotor pool because it bears the name of Zoran Gopčević, a water polo legend whom the Croatian side accuses of war crimes in the Morinj camp.
"I have the right to say that we have all the conditions at the Kotor swimming pool. We are just asking for our basic right to compete with everyone, just as others are allowed to, so we are asking to play at our swimming pool," concluded Kovačević.
Jadran, on the other hand, plays with Panathinaikos.
The first match is on February 25th in Greece, and Jadran will host on March 7th.
"We have drawn a very strong opponent, who has an exceptionally good squad. We know that our national team player Dušan Banićević and three or four Greek national team players who recently won the bronze medal are playing there. We will try to get to know them as well as possible over the next seven days, the first match is coming up soon," said the coach of the team from Škvere, Vladimir Gojković.
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