Because Serb: Slovan without a coach in Kosovo

Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava have to give up their Serbian coach Vladimir Radenkovic for political reasons in the second round of the European League qualification against Kosovar club KF Feronikeli. The club announced this on its homepage on Tuesday. Besides the coach, Aleksandar Cavric and Dejan Drazic against Feronikeli will not be there either.

The reason for this is an appeal from the Serbian government, which asked the players and the coach not to run up against the Kosovars. The Serbs respected the request of their people’s representatives and will be absent from the games against Feronikeli. Slovan has come to terms with it.

“It is not a pleasant situation for any of the parties involved, but we have to accept it,” the Slovak Capital Club stated in its statement. The U23 coach Jan Kozak will now be on the sidelines in the qualifying game next Thursday.

Serbia has not recognised Kosovo as a separate state under international law since independence in 2008. The case of Bratislava is not the first time that political tensions between the two states have influenced football.

The Serb Ljubise Tumbakovic was dismissed as Montenegrin national coach in June after refusing to coach his team during the European Championship qualifying match against Kosovo.