With the achievement of reaching the Conference League group stage and winning the Cup, Zrinjski accomplished two of the three set goals, but is there any regret over the lost title?<\/p>\n
“We must not be disappointed by that. It would be absurd for second place to overshadow all the good we\u2019ve done because, as I said at the outset, we are genuinely proud of our results. Besides, it\u2019s important to emphasize that we finished the league with 76 points, which is a tally we would have signed off at the start of the season, as in every season so far, that tally meant winning the championship. This season it wasn\u2019t enough, but to accumulate 76 points in a season where we played 55 matches is a huge achievement. Big congratulations to the players and coaches who are most responsible for this success.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Eight league titles, three Cups, a constant participant in European competitions, the most successful club in the history of the WWin League BiH, the club with the most European victories… It sounds almost surreal what Zrinjski has achieved in recent history, and perhaps the biggest success is that all this has become \u201cnormal\u201d?<\/p>\n “Yes, in a way we\u2019ve become ‘victims’ of all our successful seasons, because even after a season where we won the Cup and played in the Conference League group stage, there\u2019s talk of us not winning the title. On one hand, this is expected when you know that two seasons ago we won titles with 27 and 20 points more than the runner-up, but those of us leading Zrinjski are firmly grounded, aware that good results, trophies, and successes don\u2019t come by themselves, but only as a result of good, quality, and continuous work.”<\/strong><\/p>\n You have been leading Zrinjski for eight years, but you have been with the club much longer?<\/p>\n “That continuity is what sets us apart from others, if I dare say more successful, because let others judge that. As a member of the Management Board and the inner presidency, I\u2019ve been with Zrinjski for almost twenty years, Ivan Beus as the director just as long, and Danko \u0160ulenta as the executive vice president has been with the club for twelve years. In the last three seasons, we\u2019ve had significant support from Amir Gross Kabiri, who, as the head of our main sponsor, M.T. Abraham Group, also agreed to be part of the core leadership. There are exceptions, but for results, continuity is needed, and Zrinjski has that, both in management structures and the administrative part of the club. I\u2019d say that continuity was crucial in 2021 after not qualifying for Europe, allowing us to bounce back quickly and achieve the greatest successes in the club\u2019s history in the following three seasons.”<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to sponsors, how satisfied are you with the support Zrinjski has from that side?<\/p>\n “Can support be greater is something we\u2019ll leave for another interview, but in any case, we\u2019re sincerely grateful to all sponsors, donors, and club partners, as we greatly value every entrepreneur willing to support the club\u2019s work. This is also their success. We\u2019re also grateful for the support we have from the City and the County, but I\u2019ll be bold enough to say that we earned that support through our successes. In the previous season, we brought seven European clubs to Mostar, which is a big deal.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Zrinjski achieved record revenues of 14.3 million marks in 2023, but primarily thanks to reaching the group stage. How difficult is it to actually secure the budget needed for stable functioning, or for achieving such high ambitions?<\/p>\n “The term stable functioning doesn\u2019t go hand in hand with BiH football. Revenue of 14.3 million indeed sounds nice, but 60 percent of that amount was secured by reaching the group stage, which is the best indicator of how variable that revenue side actually is. In the previous season, we earned 8.5 million from Europe, but that revenue was zero in 2021. In one of the previous answers, I said we are sincerely grateful to every sponsor, but solely with sponsor revenues, we can\u2019t nearly cover the expenses. This is not just our reality but the reality of all stronger clubs in the region because we all depend on Europe and player sales. Furthermore, when it comes to Europe, it should be noted that it also brings significant expenses. For example, just the travel costs for seven away matches required about two million marks.”<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2023, revenues from the City of Mostar and the County amounted to 1.7 million marks, which is a 12 percent share of the annual revenue?<\/p>\n “True, but it\u2019s important to emphasize that these revenues were not spent on the club\u2019s current operations but on infrastructure investment because we had to do a lot to ensure we could play group stage matches in Mostar.”<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to infrastructure, fans are most interested in the East Stand project?<\/p>\n “That\u2019s completely understandable because it\u2019s the biggest infrastructural project at the stadium since its construction. This year we finally started the project, and we\u2019re happy about it. It should be noted that it\u2019s a multi-million project, and the financial structure for its complete realization isn\u2019t closed, so it\u2019s ungrateful to talk about deadlines, but we\u2019ve started, and that\u2019s the most important. Zrinjski as a club clearly can\u2019t carry out this project alone, so we expect support from the broader social community, meaning all levels of government, to create conditions that Zrinjski, as an eight-time BiH champion and a constant participant in European competitions, deserves.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s get back to the WWin League BiH. In the past season, there was much talk about refereeing. What\u2019s Zrinjski\u2019s stance on this?<\/p>\n “Zrinjski as a club never wants to comment on refereeing, so we will refrain from detailed analyses now as well. We leave that to others, and it\u2019s up to them to decide whether those analyses will be objective or not. The biggest problem is that we\u2019ve allowed trust to be lost, which, to be fair, was never great, and time will tell whether and to what extent we will manage to regain that trust.”<\/strong><\/p>\n The BiH Football Federation has decided to reduce the league to 10 clubs from the 2025\/2026 season?<\/p>\n “Definitely a step forward, just like the one made in 2016 when the League of 16 was replaced by the League of 12.”<\/strong><\/p>\n When you were appointed president of Zrinjski in 2016, the coach was Vinko Marinovi\u0107, and not counting temporary solutions, \u017deljko Petrovi\u0107 is the ninth coach leading Zrinjski in that period, noting that Bla\u017e Sli\u0161kovi\u0107 was appointed twice?<\/p>\n “In any case, we\u2019ve never made ad hoc decisions, and we can\u2019t because of the responsibility we have. Decisions about coaching changes were usually made at the end of the season or half-season, after analyzing whether we were heading in the right direction or not. These decisions are generally not easy, but we have to make them. In any case, we are grateful to all the coaches we\u2019ve worked with, whether they stayed shorter or longer on the bench.”<\/strong><\/p>\n The new season for Zrinjski starts a bit later than in previous years?<\/p>\n “The path to the group stage will be harder, that\u2019s clear to everyone, but no one has the right to forbid us from believing that we can succeed again. Once, our goal in Europe was just to participate, and that satisfied us, but now we\u2019re at a level where that\u2019s no longer enough. Now we have to achieve something.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Domestic scene?<\/p>\n “Fighting for the double crown. That\u2019s Zrinjski\u2019s goal every season.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Squad?<\/p>\n “We\u2019re already working on it, of course, but we ask for a bit of patience. Tomislav Ki\u0161 has already extended his contract, we\u2019ve signed an extension with Josip \u0106orluka with a friendly agreement that he can leave if he gets a really good offer from abroad, and Tarik Rami\u0107 has also signed a new contract. There will be more extensions, and as in every transfer window, some players will leave us. We want to be ready for the new season, and we surely will be,”<\/strong> concluded Lasi\u0107.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Denis Lasi\u0107 has been at the helm of H\u0160K Zrinjski Mostar for eight years, making him the longest-serving president in the club’s history. Under his leadership, the “Nobles” have won four BiH Premier League titles (2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) and two Cups (2023, 2024), and have also achieved the long-dreamed goal of reaching the group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,77],"tags":[219,41,220],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hskzrinjski.ba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Predsjednik-Denis-Lasic-2.jpg\")
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