European Football

Red Star Belgrade board quit after UEFA Cup elimination

17:32 BST, Fri 29 Aug 2008
[-] Text [+]
 Email  |   Print  |   Digg This
 
Red Star Belgrade's soccer fans watch the UEFA Cup qualifying soccer match against Apoel Nicosia in Belgrade August 28, 2008. 
REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic (SERBIA)

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Red Star Belgrade president Toplica Spasojevic, sports director Goran Bunjevcevic and the entire board quit on Friday after their UEFA Cup second qualifying round defeat.

"Red Star's top officials saw their resignation as the only ethical course of action after a poor start to the season," the Serbian first division club said on their website (www.crvenazvezdafk.com).

"Spasojevic and Bunjevcevic have stepped down along with the entire managing board after their strong efforts failed to bear fruit."

Angry Red Star fans demanded the board's resignation during and after Thursday's 3-3 home draw with Cypriots APOEL Nicosia that sent the 1991 European Cup winners out of the UEFA Cup on away goals.

Riot police were deployed in and around the stadium as fans ripped out seats and threw them at the VIP box.

Red Star also have only one point from their opening two league matches but under-pressure Czech coach Zdenek Zeman has refused to quit.

"I will talk to the new board when it's appointed and see what their plans are but I want to carry on working here because there is room for improvement," said the former coach of Italian Serie A teams AS Roma and Lazio.

Red Star surrendered the domestic league and cup double to bitter city foes Partizan last season.

The club's former president Dragan Dzajic, acquitted of fraud charges in July after spending six months in custody, has been tipped by local media as Spasojevic's likely successor.

Any person accessing the football section of this website is prohibited from any unauthorised re-production of any photographs and or text content other than for the purposes of viewing the same as part of the web site.   

Most Popular articles

advertisement