Victor Dodig on the verge of a majority takeover of Cibona: the Zagreb club is entering the most important ownership reshuffle in its history
Basketball club Cibona, one of the most recognizable European basketball brands from the second half of the 20th century, is in the final stage of a major ownership and financial turnaround. According to documents prepared for the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb and the publicly available study on transformation, the club is to be transformed from a sports association for competition into a sports joint-stock company. In this model, a key role is held by Canadian banker of Croatian origin Victor G. Dodig, former president and chief executive officer of CIBC and the designated successor at the helm of the Canadian telecommunications company TELUS from July 1, 2026. According to available information, Dodig is expected to acquire a majority block of shares in the new ownership structure, with media and city materials citing a stake greater than 70 percent.
This is a process that has a much broader significance for Cibona than merely changing its legal form. For years, the club operated under the pressure of debts, blocked accounts and uncertainty, and the transformation is presented as an attempt to convert those obligations into ownership stakes while at the same time securing new capital for operations. The City administration in Zagreb stated that the aim of the procedure is to resolve debts, ensure more transparent management and provide more stable development for the club, emphasizing that the City of Zagreb does not intend to take over majority ownership or direct management. Such a model would, for the first time in Cibona's history, place the club in a situation where its majority owner is a private investor.
The City decision opened the way for the transformation
The process received an important political and institutional boost on March 26, 2026, when the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb, according to a Hina report, unanimously accepted Mayor Tomislav Tomašević's conclusion on the participation of the City of Zagreb in transforming Cibona from a sports association into a sports joint-stock company. According to the same report, all 33 city representatives present at the session voted in favor of the conclusion. This removed one of the key local obstacles to the continuation of the procedure, although the transformation itself does not end with the city decision. According to the City of Zagreb's announcement, further steps before the competent authorities follow after the decision, including registration with the competent court, prior approval from the national transformation commission and the consent of the minister responsible for sport.
Ahead of the assembly decision, the City of Zagreb emphasized that it sees Cibona as an important part of the city's sporting identity, but also that the future model must be set on professional and transparent foundations. Mayor Tomašević stated, according to the city announcement, that the City will not participate in managing the club and that the policy of the city administration is the depoliticization of the management of sports clubs. In the same context, it was stated that the City will remain a partner to the club, among other things through the issue of using the Dražen Petrović Basketball Center, but without the intention of retaining management control. According to the Hina report, the City's claims, including related companies and institutions, amount to slightly more than 500,000 euros and should be converted into shares of the future company.
For Cibona, that decision is especially important because the previous model of a citizens' association, according to the explanation of the City of Zagreb, resulted in uncertainty and accumulated losses. The transformation should open the way to a clearer ownership structure and more responsible financial management. However, the final ownership ratios depend on the implementation of the procedure, share subscription and decisions by creditors. Therefore, according to the available information, it is most precise to speak of a model under which Dodig is expected to become the majority owner, rather than of a fully completed ownership transfer if the competent bodies and formal registrations have not yet been finalized.
Dodig's package: invested money, fresh capital and a majority stake
According to data published by Sportske novosti based on documentation and information about the process, the total value of the privatization model is around 6.1 million euros. This amount also includes the value of creditors' claims that are to be converted into shares. Victor Dodig, according to the same source, has already placed 1.9 million euros into the club and has additionally undertaken to secure around 1.7 million euros of fresh capital. Combined, this is approximately 3.6 million euros, which, according to the scenario from media reports, would give him 71.21 percent ownership in the new Cibona.
The transformation study, published as part of the materials for the City Assembly, lists total claims against the club in the amount of 6,143,974.27 euros. The document also states that, during the preparation phase of the study, some creditors expressed a general interest in converting claims into capital or capital reserves. The claims of creditors who expressed such interest, according to the study, amounted to more than 4.27 million euros as of December 31, 2025, which is about 70 percent of the total presented claims. This is crucial for the club because the transformation is not based only on new investment, but also on a change in the status of existing debts.
The model therefore has two connected functions: financial rehabilitation and the creation of a new management structure. If the claims are converted into shares, some current creditors become co-owners instead of remaining solely in the position of collecting debt. If new money is injected at the same time, the club gains liquidity for day-to-day operations and for preparing a more serious sporting plan. According to Sportske novosti, other investors and smaller shareholders are also mentioned in the possible ownership structure, while the City of Zagreb would hold a minority stake. These ratios, however, remain dependent on the final subscription of shares and the decision of all parties involved.
Why transformation is necessary for Cibona
Cibona is not an ordinary local sports club trying to stabilize itself after one bad season. In its announcement, the City of Zagreb recalled that the club was founded in 1946, that over the decades it built the status of a European basketball giant and that it has two European champion titles in its history. That is precisely why the club's financial decline in recent years had a strong resonance among basketball fans and the sporting public. A club that was a symbol of major European games and a development environment for top players found itself in a situation in which survival was often more important than competitive ambitions.
Cibona director Tomislav Šerić told Sportklub, according to tportal's report, that the club chose the more difficult path of preserving the existing Cibona, its legal continuity, identity and history, instead of shutting it down and establishing a new entity without debts. According to him, the debt is around 6.1 million euros, with additional provisions, and the goal is for obligations to be significantly reduced through the transformation. Such an approach carries a greater administrative and financial burden, but preserves the continuity of the club's brand, history and legal identity. In sporting terms, this is important because fans and former players do not perceive Cibona merely as a competition license, but as an institution with history.
Continuity is precisely one of the key messages of the entire process. Instead of a short-term solution that would formally remove debts, Cibona is trying to gather creditors, investors, the City of Zagreb and sports institutions around a single rehabilitation model. This does not guarantee sporting success, but it creates the prerequisites without which it is difficult to plan a budget, personnel policy, the youth academy and participation in stronger competitions. According to the city materials, the emphasis is placed on transparent operations, the development of young players and professional results that would strengthen the club's recognizability.
Who Victor Dodig is and why his role is important
Victor G. Dodig is best known in the business world for his long-standing career in the Canadian banking sector. According to TELUS's official biography, he was president and chief executive officer of the CIBC group from 2014 to 2025 and a member of that bank's board. In February 2026, TELUS announced that Dodig would take over as the company's president and chief executive officer on July 1, 2026, following the retirement of Darren Entwistle. Until that date, according to TELUS's announcement, Dodig has the status of designated future chief executive officer and is participating in the company's leadership transition.
For Cibona, Dodig's profile is important for two reasons. The first is financial: he is a manager with experience in running large systems, capital and complex institutional processes. The second is symbolic: the media describe him as a Canadian entrepreneur and banker of Croatian roots who does not present the investment in Cibona exclusively as a financial transaction. In an interview with Sportklub, Dodig described the project as an opportunity for a new life for Cibona and emphasized that he believes in the club's brand and story. Such statements must not be interpreted as a guarantee of sporting results, but they show that the potential new owner wants to present himself as a long-term actor, not merely as a temporary financier.
Sportklub also reported that Dodig and his partners are planning to invest new money and that, after the transformation, they see the club as a more serious participant in domestic and European competitions. In the same context, interest was mentioned in returning Cibona to a broader European framework, including the possibility of playing in stronger international competitions. However, sporting achievements will depend on the budget, the choice of management personnel, the coach, player selection and continuity of financing. A return to the top of Europe is not an administrative consequence of privatization, but a long-term sporting process.
Arena, young players and the budget for the new phase
One of the sensitive issues of the transformation concerns the Dražen Petrović Basketball Center, the arena strongly connected with Cibona's identity. The City of Zagreb stated that the arena remains city property and a public resource and that it will not be contributed to the share capital of the future sports joint-stock company. At the same time, according to city and agency reports, the City intends to support the club through the right to play in and use the arena, which should enable Cibona to maintain continuity of appearances in Zagreb. According to the Hina report, city office head Luka Juroš said that this ensures that Cibona's official games and headquarters remain in Zagreb during that period.
Sporting plans depend on the stability of the new financial framework. Sportske novosti reported that conservative scenarios mention annual budgets that would grow over the next five years from slightly more than two million euros to almost four million euros in 2030. Such projections, if realized, would give Cibona a different position on the player market, better planning of the youth academy and more realistic ambitions in the regional and European environment. But they are still projections, not a finished result. In professional sport, capital is a necessary condition for stability, but it is not sufficient without expert management, a sporting plan and cost control.
A particularly important part of the future strategy should be the development of young players. In its announcement on the transformation, the City of Zagreb stated that a focus on the development of young athletes and professional results is expected. For a club with Cibona's tradition, this is a logical direction because the club's historical identity is also connected with player development, not only with buying ready-made reinforcements. In the new model, that part of the story will have to be financially sustainable, clearly organized and connected with the first team. Otherwise, privatization would remain only a short-term rehabilitation of the balance sheet.
What still needs to be completed
The transformation of a sports club into a sports joint-stock company in Croatia is regulated by the Sports Act and the Rulebook on the Transformation of a Sports Club - an Association for Competition into a Sports Joint-Stock Company. Narodne novine states that the rulebook prescribes the manner, deadlines and other issues important for the implementation of the transformation, as well as the work of the Transformation Commission. In Cibona's case, this means that the city decision, although politically important, is not the only formal step. The procedure must pass through the prescribed phases, including the review of the study, approvals by competent bodies, share subscription and registration of the new company.
According to documents and reports available up to June 23, 2026, the key direction of the process is clear: Cibona is to exit the association model, convert obligations into capital, obtain a majority private owner and stabilize operations. What remains important to follow is the final ownership ratio, the actual amount of new capital that will be available for operations, the treatment of small creditors and shareholders, and the way in which the club's management will be established. It will also be particularly closely watched whether the City of Zagreb will truly remain outside management after the transformation, as announced, and whether its minority stake will be sold over time.
For fans and the European basketball public, the most important question will be whether the financial reconstruction can produce a stable sporting project. Cibona has a name, history, arena and emotional base, but modern basketball requires long-term financing, expert selection and clear organization. If Dodig's entry is carried out according to the announced model, the club will receive its most concrete opportunity for a new beginning in recent decades. That opportunity, however, will not be measured only by the percentage of ownership and the amount of paid-in capital, but by the ability to turn Cibona, after years of survival, back into a sustainable and competitive basketball system.
Sources:
- City of Zagreb - announcement and explanation of the decision on transforming KK Cibona into a sports joint-stock company (link)
- City of Zagreb - announcement on Cibona's 80th birthday, the club's history and the continuation of the transformation process (link)
- City Assembly of the City of Zagreb / Study on the transformation of KK Cibona - financial data, claims and the legal framework of the transformation (link)
- Hina / Prigorski.hr - report on the unanimous decision of the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb on participation in Cibona's transformation (link)
- Sportske novosti - data on the planned capital, Dodig's stake and the possible ownership structure of Cibona (link)
- Sportklub - interview and report on Dodig's plans for Cibona and the ambition to return the club to the European elite (link)
- tportal - report of statements by Cibona director Tomislav Šerić on the debt, continuity of the club and phases of transformation (link)
- TELUS / PR Newswire - official announcement on the appointment of Victor Dodig as president and chief executive officer of TELUS from July 1, 2026 (link)
- TELUS - official biography of Victor Dodig as a member of the Board of Directors and former president and chief executive officer of CIBC (link)
- Narodne novine - Rulebook on the Transformation of a Sports Club - an Association for Competition into a Sports Joint-Stock Company (link)