Cibona did not travel to Podgorica for the match against Budućnost, which was to open the regional competition. The club confirmed that it had received an official notice that the match had been postponed.
The background to the postponement is a major dispute over referees. A group of 63 arbiters of the ABA League demanded an increase in fees, so the proposed gross fee for a match was 1,200 euros, with the final to be increased to 2,000 euros. The referees additionally demanded seasonal bonuses of 5,000 euros, full health insurance, and compensation in the event of injury.
The leadership of the A-League estimated that they could not agree to the demands. Consequently, a tender was issued for new referees, to which arbiters from various parts of the world applied. However, some of the new referees began to withdraw from the engagement, including those from Colombia, Estonia, and Norway. According to the estimate of the Referees' Commission, only 20 met the minimum requirements for officiating at a regional level.
The president of the Commission, Spanish national Miguel Angel Perez, informed the League that several more referees had withdrawn from the short list. Due to the inability to delegate referees for the upcoming matches, a meeting of the owners of the A-League was scheduled for that afternoon.
In the meantime, the newly appointed sports director, Turkish national Ibrahim Erkan, was still unable to officially assume his position in the A-League, as he first needed to legally terminate his employment with EuroLeague, a process that would take several more weeks. Crvena zvezda, FMP, Mega, Krka, and Zadar requested additional clarifications from the league leadership, which consists of Partizan, Budućnost, and Cedevita Olimpija.
Budućnost Podgorica and Cibona were to open the season tomorrow at 18:00, but that match has been postponed. There is currently no clear answer as to what will happen with the remaining matches. Zadar and Bosna were due to play their second match on the first day tomorrow at 18:30, and it remains to be seen whether that match will be played as planned.
Director of KK Zadar, Roko Jurlina, reported at 12:32 that: 'We have not yet received an official notification.' If the dispute with the referees is not resolved soon, matches in the second, third, and fourth rounds could be called into question. The fate of the start of the new season will become known after today's extraordinary meeting.
