Aigars Vītols (born February 15, 1976) is a former

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n professional

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

and a current politician for the Latvian

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers (, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is positioned in the centre on the ...

Sports career

Vītols played the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

position: He played most of his career in Latvia, winning six national championships and one finals MVP award. When he played for Spanish team

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., known as Flexicar Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons, or just as Fuenlabrada, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Primera FEB and ...

, he was the best three-point shooter of

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

in the 2005-06 season. Mostly he was known for his terrific long-range shooting and defensive skills. Vītols played for

Latvia national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team () represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship 15 times, with their ultimat ...

at five

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

Pro clubs

*1993-94: VEF/Ādaži *1994-98: BK Metropole *1998-02:

BK Ventspils BK Ventspils is a professional basketball club that is located in Ventspils, Latvia. The club competes in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. History BK Ventspils was founded in 1994. In first years Ventspils proved themselves as relevant p ...

*2002:

KD Slovan Košarkarsko društvo Slovan, commonly referred to as KD Slovan or Slovan, is a basketball team from Ljubljana, Slovenia. History The founding of the club was the idea of Stane Urek, who in 1951 proposed the establishment of a basketball club in ...

*2002:

Barons LMT BK Barons/LDz (previously Barons/LMT) was a professional basketball club who was based in Riga, Latvia. The team played in the first division of the Latvian Basketball League. History Barons Kvartāls played an integral part in Latvia's basketb ...

*2002-03:

BK Skonto BK Skonto is the name of a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History BK Skonto was founded in 2001 as a basketball section of FC Skonto. The basketball team was founded by FC Skonto president Guntis Indriksons ...

*2003-05:

*2005-06:

*2006-08:

*2008-09:

ASK Rīga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004 as an attempt to revive the defunct club ...

*2009-11:

*2012-2013:

BK Jēkabpils BK Jēkabpils is a professional basketball club based in Jēkabpils, Latvia, playing in the Latvian Basketball League and Baltic Basketball League. It was founded in 2012 and since then the club is playing in LBL higher division. The club's hom ...

Political career

In the 2013 local elections, Vītols was elected for the Ķekava regional council on the Vidzemes party list, but he changed political allegiance in 2016 to the

Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union (, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence (as ), it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It is positioned in the centre o ...

. In the 2017 local elections, he was elected to the Ķekava regional council on the LFU list. He was chosen to be the vice mayor. He failed to get elected as a candidate for the

in the 13th Latvian national elections. In September 2019, the

Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB; ) is a specialised anti-corruption authority of Latvia. Its aim is to fight corruption in Latvia in a coordinated and comprehensive way through prevention, investigation and education. KNAB was ...

arrested A. Vītols, accusing him of possible bribery in connection with construction work. KNAB aizturējis Ķekavas mēra vietnieku Vītolu par kukuļošanu 30 000 eiro apmērā
jauns.lv

References

External links

1976 births Living people ASK Riga players KD Slovan players Latvian men's basketball players Basketball players from Riga BK Ventspils players Shooting guards {{Latvia-basketball-bio-stub