Avni Ponari: The first final game was a beautiful one

Avni Ponari is the CEO of SIGAL UNIQA which from last summer is supporting the Balkan League as well. Here is what he had to say after the first final game between Sigal Prishtina and Mornar in front of local media: 

- Mr. Ponari, how happy are you with the first game in Prishtina?

- I′m really very happy. It was a beautiful game. It started very even but then Sigal Prishtina dominated to take the lead.

- It′s been some years since you are working with Sigal Prishtina. What do you think about your cooperation?

- It′s a pleasure for me to invest in a place you see such good results. I′m with Sigal Prishtina since 13-14 years and we′ve become number 1. We are moving forward together and I think we′ll continue to do so in the future. I think that Sigal Prishtina has given a good start to the basketball in the city but also has brought joy to Albanese fans. Thanks to Sigal Prishtina′s wins in the Balkan League, now it′s very popular and loved by all Albanians in the country and outside.

- We are close to European qualifiers during the summer. How prepared is the Albanian federation of which you are the president?

- Of course it′s a very important year for us because we took a decision to participate with seven national teams in all categories. We are lucky that we′ll have Sigal Prishtina′s head coach for the Men National team. He already starting looking at and choosing the players so August and September this year will be a big celebration for us regarding the basketball. I′m sure it will be much more different than before.

- Why the difference between basketball in Kosovo and Albania is so clear?

- The differencies are few. Of course, to start, Kosovo′s biggest desire was to be accepted by FIBA given the fact the basketball culture is well developed in the country. Kosovo wanted to dominated and to show that the basketball is one of the most important sports there.

- Do you think the enthusiasm can return in Albania as well?

- I hope and I think that the enthusiasm will return because before the 90′s of last century, this was a very popular sport. Then it went down but in the last 4-5 years we started working towards developing and making this sport more popular. I think the basketball will develop in a positive way because there are a lot of youngster who like to play. Of course I also hope that the common work with other organizations like FIBA and other federations, will help making the game more popular.

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