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Latvian champion club before the New Year officially announced that they have decided not to renew contracts with two Lithuanian legionnaires - veterans D.Bička and I.Stukalinas, whose contracts ended on December 31st.
"After considering the situation, the club decided not to continue the cooperation with the players. "Ventspils" wishes good luck to Deimantas Bička and Igor Stukalinas, who have played many great games in the blue and yellow team and brought a lot of benefits to the team. Experienced players will still be able to play many good matches in the future," - the club's website announces.
"Bička and Stukalinas are experienced and skillful players, their abilities and level are well known to the fans. However, since they are already veterans, we decided to give more opportunities to young players in the upcoming season," - said "Ventspils" coach Roman Grigorčiukas - "Bička and Stukalinas have undeniably been beneficial to the "Ventspils" team and the fans are grateful to them. I wish them both success."
34-year-old D.Bička and his peer I.Stukalinas, representing Šiauliai "Kareda," became Lithuanian champions in 1997 and 1998. Both players moved to "Ventspils" from Tiraspol "Sheriff" in 2001 and played in Latvia for five years - in 2003, 2004, and 2005 they won the national cup, and last season they helped the Ventspils club become champions for the first time in history.
The number of Lithuanian legionnaires will also decrease in the ranks of the vice-champion Liepaja "Metalurgs" coached by Benjamin Zelkevičius. A new club is looking for Lithuanian national team defender Mindaugas Kalonas, Latvian club's former loaned forward Artūras Rimkevičius returned to "Kaunas" to prepare for the new season, and the two-year contract extension for another forward Nerijus Astrauskas from the "Vilnius" team was not renewed.
