When after the end of the protests in Serbia, no matter how long they last, the sports line will be drawn, not so much attention will be paid to medals, victories and cups, there will be them in the future, but everything will be measured through a unit of measurement - "parents".
There were not many who sided with the government at the beginning protest in Serbia, there were even surprisingly few of them, however, over time, the government began to employ the aforementioned, so now everything is clearer.
It seems that the value of athletes was overemphasized, so it is more complicated to explain why the former idols of the nation are ready to replace everything for the support of the government.
Some open sports centers, help promote sports to children and young people, while others seem to have accumulated all the support they had and channeled it into supporting the government of the Serbian Progressive Party and Aleksandar Vučić, at least through marketing campaigns.
The most recent example
Slobodan Soro, who is best known to the Serbian public as the goalkeeper of the Serbian national team, with whom, among other things, he was the world and European champion, became the new president of the Water Polo Association of Serbia and immediately went into action.
"Vreme" has already written about numerous events inside and outside the pool, the change of coach, but also the boycott of players as long as Soro is at the top of the HSC.
The current president of the Supreme Court is accused of, among other things, a great connection with Aleksandar Šapić, first through VK Novi Beograd, and then through the Alliance. The only consultant of Slobodan Sor in the Supreme Court will be Aleksandar Šapić.
Soro was in the pool at the Olympic Games in Paris and London, he was a member of the "dolphins" who won bronze medals. Towards the end of his career, he played for the Brazilian national team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Photo shoot with the president of the Progressives Miloš Vučević towards the end of 2024, water polo player Stefan Mitrović and handball players Vlada Mandić and Renato Vugrinec received their membership cards.
Tomašević and Tipsarevic
In December last year, Dejan Tomasevic became the president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. Former basketball player and until recently MP of the Serbian Progressive Party, he had no opponent.
Since the International Olympic Committee does not allow the mixing of politics and sports, Tomasevic previously had to resign from the position of deputy in the Serbian Parliament where he represented the Serbian Progressive Party.
Photo: Tanjug / Vladimir ŠporčićDejan Tomasevic
Although he officially joined SNS in May 2023, he was active as a sympathizer before, so a year before joining he was one of the "non-party figures" who signed their support for the candidacy of Aleksandar Vučić for the presidency of Serbia.
We should not forget Janko Tipsarević either. The once famous tennis player soon after the end of his career assumed the role of one of the important figures of the progressive regime.
Tipsarević was enterprising, but also in entrepreneurship, which is not going well for him at the moment. He leased part of the space at ,,25. maju'" of the Tennis Center "Novak", he is the owner of four companies, together with his former colleague Viktor Troicki, he owns office space in Terazije, while he owns several properties in Belgrade.
How without football?
There was a lot of fuss, both about the approach on the field and the bad results, and also because of what was happening next to the field, right next to the touchline.
Dragan Stojković Pixi, then coach of the Serbian national football team, appeared at the SNS gathering in Niš in May last year, in order to support the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, which caused an avalanche of negative comments.
Vučić publicly thanked him from the stage and praised him that, unlike some others who support him, he never hides.
In December 2023, the Serbian football coach signed his support for the election list "Aleksandar Vučić - Serbia must not stand still", together with about 2.000 other famous people from Serbia. The list of supporters included names such as the president of the Football Association of Serbia, Dragan Džajić.
At the helm of Red Star and Partizan
In 2015, the current president of KK Partizan and businessman Ostoja Mijailović transferred to the Serbian Progressive Party "with the intention of bringing new energy".
In the 2016 parliamentary elections, he was elected as a deputy in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
In May 2015, he became a member of the Board of Directors of FC "Partizan" and held that position until April 2016, and in September 2017, he became the president of FC "Partizan".
As the first man of KK Partizan, he clashed with the administration of KK Crvena Zvezda led by Nebojša Čović, but also with the previous administration of FC Partizan and even called for the resignation of president Milorad Vucevic and general manager Miloš Vazura.
Photo: Tanjug/Vladimir ŠporčićOstoja Mijailović
On the other hand, in the red and white camp is Željko Drčelić, co-owner of Konkord vest and president of the Crvena zvezda Basketball Club.
A few months after the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime filed the original indictment for rigging the tender against that private company, its co-owner Željko Drčelić was elected president of KK Crvena zvezda in December 2024.
According to Radar, this company, independently or as part of a consortium, after the initiation of the tender-rigging investigation, received government jobs three times more valuable than before that procedure.
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