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🇱🇹 Lithuania /Elections & Politics

Amalija Pašajevaitė celebrates Grigas sanctions and offers Balčiūnas green tea

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Amalija Pašajevaitė welcomed FIBA’s decision to suspend former coach Rimantas Grigas from basketball-related activity until October 27, 2030, and fine him 12,000 Swiss francs.
  • She recalled that Mindaugas Balčiūnas allegedly responded to her account of a club-season situation by telling her to drink more green tea.
  • The case began after anonymous testimonies from four basketball players described unwanted touching, intrusive physical contact and familiar forms of address.

Amalija Pašajevaitė is celebrating what she calls the triumph of justice after FIBA sanctioned former Lithuanian women’s national team coach Rimantas Grigas in a harassment case. She also used the moment to recall what she described as an uncomfortable conversation with Mindaugas Balčiūnas, head of the Lithuanian Basketball Association.

Pašajevaitė said Balčiūnas invited her to the association’s offices about a year and a half ago after hearing about her situation during the club season. She said he offered no meaningful response and, as he left, told her to drink more green tea to calm down. She then invited Balčiūnas to join her for green tea in Dzūkija’s capital, saying he might need it given current developments in men’s basketball and the sanction against his friend.

Justice has triumphed after all!

· Amalija PašajevaitėShe welcomed FIBA’s sanctions against former coach Rimantas Grigas.

In a Facebook post, the 23-year-old player welcomed the punishment against Grigas and praised the women who had spoken publicly. “Justice has triumphed after all!” she wrote. “We women are not exaggerating, dramatizing, or taking it too personally. We are simply expressing loudly how we feel!”

We women are not exaggerating, dramatizing, or taking it too personally. We are simply expressing loudly how we feel!

· Amalija PašajevaitėShe defended the women who spoke publicly about the alleged conduct.

FIBA this week barred Grigas from all basketball-related activity until October 27, 2030, and imposed a fine of 12,000 Swiss francs, approximately 12,747 euros. Pašajevaitė and Grigas had crossed paths during the 2022-23 season at Kauno Aistės-LSMU.

The scandal began on February 13, 2025, when journalist Gustavas Klikna published anonymous testimonies from four players, including three national-team members and one player from Vilnius Kibirkštis. The accounts described unwanted touching, hands placed on players’ sides, stomachs and shoulders, invasions of personal space, and terms such as “sweetie” and “little girl.” One player said, “He touches us a lot, he gets into our bubble.”

He touches us a lot, he gets into our bubble.

· Anonymous playerThe statement appeared in the anonymous testimonies that triggered the scandal.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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