The special assembly of Crvena Zvezda FC, held two weeks ago at the Maracana Stadium, revealed the real power of these fan groups. Their representatives requested to bring changes in the Statute according to which club president could be dismissed by the decision of “only” half of the Assembly plus one vote, rather than two-thirds as before. Some officials have protested, but fans have imposed their request due to the large number of delegates from their ranks.
“I’m not saying that this decision is bad, time will tell that, but it is not good that fans obviously run the club. Their place is in the stands, they are the heart of the club, but some other people should run it, the people who can pay back 40 million euros of club’s debt, re-conquer titles and play an important role in the Euro-cups,” said Dragoslav Sekularac, the legend of The Red and Whites.
NEITHER ABRAMOVIC, NOR AHMETOV:All members of the club who paid membership fees will be allowed to take part in the elections of new leadership. Therefore, if someone has been a member since club’s founding in 1945, and was not able to pay membership fee for the last year, he cannot vote for the president, but one who is only 18 years old and knows nothing about the candidates will be allowed to vote if he has been a member for one full year. In addition, a new method of voting has been introduced – a possibility to vote over the internet.
Under the new Statute a candidate for club president may be only someone who has been a member for at least one year, has 500 signatures of club members, has never been convicted of criminal offenses carrying a minimal penalty of five years imprisonment, is a respected member of society, respected in his profession, has experience in management and is a respected athlete or sports official.
Some of the club’s legends did not like these provisions because they discriminate some capable people who are not members of the club. In his manner, Dusan Savic raised objections to this kind of elections: “The problem lies in the way in which president is being elected. I regret that, let’s say, Roman Abramovic cannot run because he did not pay one year’s membership fee, as well as Rinat Akhmetov “.
“Among the 10,000 members of Crvena Zvezda FC, 70 to 80 percent are members of fan groups from the northern stands. The new Statute allowed the fans leaders to be the deciding factor in the selection of management. If they want, they can even nominate the head of supporters Ica Bogdanov who became famous in the riots in Genoa.
Bogdanov meets the requirements as he has not been convinced for a criminal offence carrying more than five years imprisonment, which is a prerequisite for candidacy. Many of these leaders are honest and good guys, but there are those who are associated with some of the drug bosses, Dejan Stojanovic Keka, etc.,” says the source of Novi Magazin, a member of the Red Star Assembly.
However, our sources claim that all decisions of the Board shall be considered ineffective because they were not confirmed by the Assembly. According to the club’s Statute, the Assembly appoints and dismisses members of the Board. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Board elected some members, but the Assembly has not verified them. It can be said that all decisions made by such Assembly can be considered as illegal.
DEBTS FORCED RED STAR INTO BANKRUPTCY:Some individuals from the management must have been linked to certain drug bosses, because how else to explain that Dusko Saric, Darko Saric’s younger brother, was a guest on one of the games and was given a place in the presidential box.
Apparently, some people from the criminal milieu took care of cocaine and gambling debts of individuals in the management who like nightlife and Belgrade clubs where they had made debts of tens of thousands of euros. The debts were pilled in the restaurants – Zabar, Blejvoc, Akapulko…
During this time the debts also pilled up in Crvena Zvezda FC and the sum of 22 million euro, from the beginning of Lukic’s term, increased to 42 million euros.
“This is official data of UEFA. Each club is obliged to submit financial status to UEFA. However, this job is not entrusted to local experts, but is carried out by foreign auditors,” said the source of Novi Magazin.
Crvena Zvezda FC now owes money to everyone, including the sum of 3.5 million euros to former Vice President of the club Marko Miskovic.
The coupling of politics, business and sport is evident at The Red and Whites’ lobby, which caused the northern stands to suddenly silence regular chants against the authorities, especially against President Boris Tadic. “This is just proof that everything can be controlled or bought, because peace came to the stands after the signing of sponsorship contract with Serbian Telekom worth 2.5 million euros,” said the source of Novi Magazin.