Sarajevo (AFP)
Serbian international basketball player Ognjen Kuzmic, shortlisted for the World Cup in China, was seriously injured on Sunday in a road accident in Bosnia, his club, Red Star Belgrade, said.
The accident occurred early in the morning on a road in northern Bosnia between Banja Luka and Prijedor. Kuzmic (2.14m, 29 years old) was in one of the two cars that hit each other, according to Bosnian police.
"Ognjen suffers serious injuries to the head and chest," reads a statement from the club, stating that the player was transported to Belgrade to be treated in a hospital.
He was first admitted to a facility in Banja Luka.
"He was unconscious (at the time of his admission, ed), but what is good is that there was no bleeding in the brain, nor skull fracture in the brain," said the director of Banja Luka Hospital, Vlado Djajic, quoted on the N1 private television site.
The Serbian pivot signed in early July a two-year contract that made him return to the Red Star of Belgrade, having played two seasons at Real Madrid. Born in Doboj, Bosnia, he has also played in recent years at Golden State Warriors (NBA) and Panathinaikos (Greece).
He was supposed to join the Serbian squad on 18 July in Belgrade to start the preparations for the World Cup to be played from 31 August to 15 September in China.
Serbia will start this tournament in Group D, where they will face Angola, the Philippines and Italy.
© 2019 AFP