A few days after OFN Ionia won the Greek Women’s Cup under his instructions, the iconic Sasha Zibulovic “gone” from life, spreading sadness in the area of Greek handball.
At the age of 51 and after suffering a heart attack, a sports personality, a great person, a model athlete, a charismatic coach, an excellent professional and a family man, leaves a huge void in the field.
The OCHE announcement in detail:
“A dark day has dawned for Greek handball. The Hellenic Handball Federation, shocked and with great pain, bids farewell to the Olympic champion Sasa Zibulovic, who passed away prematurely, in the early hours of the morning, at the age of 51.
A great personality of the sport, a great person, a model athlete, a charismatic coach, an excellent professional and a family man, Sasa Zibulovic loved and was loved a lot by Greece and the Greeks, even though he was not born here. He received Greek citizenship in 2004 and competed with the Men’s National Team in both the 2004 Olympics and the 2005 World Championships, contributing to two 6th place finishes. He honored the Greek colors and respected the National Emblem from his first to his last game.
Just a few twenty-four hours have passed since Sunday afternoon, when she led Nea Ionia to win the 6th Greek Women’s Cup in its history, in the 19th Final Four of Igoumenitsa. This was his 5th title as a coach, all with Nea Ionia, preceded by two championships and two more Greek cups. Sasa Zibulovic was born on April 14, 1972 in Zajetar, Serbia and in 1998 he made the big decision to come to Greece, leaving Metaloplastika. “Greece helped me a lot. If I could go back in time, I would do the same route again”, he said in an interview in 2010.
His mind, his wit, his athleticism, gave him the reputation of being one of the top playmakers who ever passed through the Greek handball courts. He competed for 2 years in Panhellenic and 10 years in Doukas, winning as an athlete 3 championships (PGS 1999, Doukas 2001, 2008) and 2 Greek Cups (PGS 1999, Doukas 2008). In June 2010, after a serious injury to the supraspinatus, he decided to retire from active action at the age of 38, while already the previous year he had started his coaching career in the Duke’s age groups. In the summer of 2016, he took charge of Nea Ionia and led them to two doubles (2017, 2018) until 2019. He returned in 2020 and with a renewed team led them to the Greek Cup, the team’s first title after 5 years.
The President Kostas Gandis, the members of the Board of Directors of the OHE, the First Vice-President of the EOE Stelios Angeloudis, the staff and the press office of the Federation express their deep sorrow and their sincere condolences to his wife Selena and his son Uros, athlete of the 1986 Drama.
The void left by Sasa Zibulovic in Greek handball is difficult to fill. Our thoughts are with his family.”
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