Blackmailed by hooligans, probed by police and fined by soccer authorities, its bank accounts blocked over unpaid debts, Red Star Belgrade are in dire straits.
Its violent fans, Delije, are the tottering club’s most acute problem, costing fines and sanctions such as having to play matches behind closed doors, including the clash of the season against arch-rivals Partizan on Sunday.
Red Star were fined on Monday for the unsportsmanlike conduct of fans and players who showed support for a hooligan, Uros Misic, whom a judge sentenced to 10 years in prison after a near-fatal assault on a plain clothes policeman at a match in December.
But the woes of Red Star — Serbia’s most famous club, European Cup winners in 1991 — go far beyond fines and possible loss of revenue from 42,000 tickets already printed for the Partizan game.
A day after the Misic was sentenced, on Sept. 20, Red Star players showed up for a match wearing T-shirts demanding “justice for Uros Misic” and supporters posted a sign threatening the judge who delivered the verdict.
The affair brought police into Red Star offices and dressing rooms. All, from acting president Dobrivoje Tanasijevic to janitors, were questioned, but nobody said who ordered players to wear the shirts.
“Red Star afraid of Delije,” was one of newspaper headlines describing the menacing atmosphere at the club.
Enraged by poor results, hooligans attacked a dozen cars belonging to club management and players, interrupted a practice and slapped winger Ognjen Koroman.
Speaking in Wednesday’s edition of newspaper Press, Koroman downplayed the slapping incident as “not so bad” and said “players were told in the club” not to discuss the shirts with the media.
Thugs also barged into Tanasijevic’s office, threatening him.
Red Star are perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy — its accounts were blocked for days over unpaid credit instalments until money finally arrived from the transfer of defender Dusan Basta to Italy’s Udinese on Monday, reports said.
Former Red Star player Sinisa Mihajlovic has said “individuals” had become involved in Red Star “to make a buck.”
The situation was further aggravated when the club’s top sponsor, Toyota, apparently became fed up with everything and quit.
The current crisis follows the February arrest of its former star player, then top executive Dragan Dzajic, who faces trial for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from player transfers.
Now, after the club’s worst-ever start in the national championship, Red Star are lingering in mid-table, eight points behind Partizan and with hopes of challenging for the title fading fast.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS