In late December a new head coach was chosen, Bilbao Basket coach Fotis Katsikaris. 19 July 2013, three days before the training for the upcoming EuroBasket 2013, he decided not to coach the national team. On the next day he published an open letter in which he explained his decision. He felt that his actions were met with opposition from the administration of the Russian Basketball Federation, especially from acting president Yulia Anikeeva (the future president of the RBF who was arrested in 2016 for corruption), and criticized the dismissal of general manager Oleg Ushakov.