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Long-standing rumors that after the 2005 Lithuanian "A League" championship, the legendary Vilnius club would pass into the hands of new owners have been confirmed - the controversially assessed president of the capital's club, Janušas Loputis, stepped down from his duties after more than a decade at the helm of the club, and the vacant position was taken by one of the best Lithuanian football players of all time, Arminas Narbekovas.
"The new club president will be Arminas Narbekovas. I got tired, so I stepped down. Football everywhere attracts money from television and sponsors. And I alone had to maintain 'Žalgiris'. Where to get money from? How much can you pay from your own pocket?" - J.Loputis said to the official website of the "A League".
According to J.Loputis, the new club owners will be businessmen from Vilnius, and by December 1, all points should be set. Meanwhile, the name of the new team's strategist is not clear yet, although it is speculated that one of the former 'Žalgiris' players - Igoris Pankratjevas recently left the position of 'Kaunas' coach is the most realistic candidate.
"Who will be the new 'Žalgiris' coach? This will be decided by the new owners. Whoever pays the money orders the music," said the former 'Žalgiris' president, who during his leadership of the club was more than once suspected of various machinations and acquired a dubious reputation.
Despite stepping down, J.Loputis declared that he would continue to follow the team's game and results in the future: "I wish the 'Žalgiris' players success in every way. I will certainly not stay away. The new owners asked me to become a consultant for 'Žalgiris', and I agreed. However, I dedicated 10.5 years to the team, so I cannot just turn my back on it."
The new 'Žalgiris' president is 40-year-old A.Narbekovas has been living in Austria for several years and is a playing coach of an amateur team. In 1985-1988, he was named the best Lithuanian football player, and in 1988, he became a champion of the Seoul Olympics.
This summer, A.Narbekovas, who was a former 'Žalgiris' player in his player career, was awarded the Honor Commander's Badge "For Merits to Lithuanian Sport" at the Lithuanian Department of Physical Culture and Sports. The famous football player then stated that "the time has come for him to repay his debts to Lithuania", indirectly hinting at his return to the sports world in his homeland.
For many years, the strongest Lithuanian football team, Vilnius "Žalgiris", retained this name for the first couple of years after the Restoration of Independence, However, a decade ago, the club faced financial problems, and then it was saved by J.Loputis when he became the owner. Later, for several years, the Vilnius team remained just a step away from gold medals, and finally won the champions title in the 1998/99 season, but then the dominance of "Kaunas" began.
The team from Kaunas won the Lithuanian championship for six years in a row, while 'Žalgiris', who sold its best players, gradually declined. Accompanied by talks of sold matches, unpaid wages, and dirty deals, in 2002, for the first time, the capital's club did not make it to the top three, and although this year the 'Žalgiris' played very successfully in the Intertoto Cup, it had repercussions on the results of the 'A League', where it was the worst performance in the club's history and shared the 7-8 position with Klaipėda's "Atlantas".
