Virtus Segafredo Bologna has confirmed the dismissal of head coach Sergio Scariolo. The Italian, whose contract was set to expire next summer, led Virtus back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after winning the BKT EuroCup title in the 2021-22 season. In its first season back in the EuroLeague after a 15-year absence, Scariolo's Virtus had a 14-20 record and finished 14th in the standings, thus missing the playoffs.
Virtus parts ways with Sergio Scariolo
Article
1 Min read
A two-year run with Virtus
Scariolo returned to his native Italy in the summer of 2021 to take charge of Virtus, having worked as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA alongside being the head coach of the Spanish national team. Virtus had the fourth-best regular-season record in Group B of the EuroCup in 2021-22, before downing Liekabelis Panevezys, ratiopharm Ulm, Valencia Basket and Frutti Extra Bursaspor en route to the title.
Unsurprisingly, given the size of Virtus as a club, there was a lot of expectation heading into its first EuroLeague season in 15 years. With the likes of Milos Teodosic, Toko Shengelia and Marco Belinelli all under contract, it was thought that the Italian side would have enough to make a strong push for the playoffs. Yet, a mixture of injuries and disappointing results saw the team's season come to a premature end, with Virtus going 3-7 in its final 10 games of the campaign.
The reason for his dismissal
In an announcement posted by the club, Virtus confirmed that Scariolo has been relieved of his duties after comments made during both an end-of-season press conference and a press conference that took place two days ago, in which he stated: "The club built this team, and they gave it to me." Scariolo also stated that guard Iffe Lundberg would not be part of the team, despite having one year left on his contract.
"The coach's statements released to the press on September 13, 2023, which follow those released during the end-of-season press conference on June 27, 2023, unfortunately undermine the serenity and enthusiasm of the Virtus environment and of the group that is preparing to face the first official commitments of the new sporting season with the aim of achieving important results at both the national and international level," read Virtus's statement.