The big pink elephant in the room, which is still silent, is the question of the status of "Red Star" in Serbian football and how all those previously won titles and cups reflect on the possibility of the red and whites to make some results on the European level as well. An even bigger problem is the fact that it is somehow taken uncritically, for granted. And that a large number of sports journalists participate in this, who do not see anything unusual in the fact that a club is undefeated in 159 games in a row, and it is not about "Real Madrid" during the reign of Francisco Franco.
For the fourth time under the baton of Dejan Stankovic, the players of "Red Star" failed to qualify for the Champions League, although this season it seemed that the doors of that elite football competition were wide open due to the fact that the anonymous Northern Irish "Larn", Israeli "Hapoel Ber Sheva" and Azerbaijani "Sabah" stood in the way. However, it would not be fair to place all the blame for the obvious sporting failure on the former star of the red and white and Italian Lazio and Inter. Even though he did a lot to attract the ire of the fans by poorly setting up the match against the Israelis, giving a scandalous speech to the players at half-time, receiving a red card while "Zvezda" had an active score and still managed to argue with the crowd from the west stand as he left the field.
Stanković's score in that elite football competition is desperate because at the beginning of the decade he was first eliminated by Omonia, a year later by "Sherif" from Tiraspol, then by "Maccabi" from Haifa, and four years later the Israelis in the form of "Hapoel" from Beer Sheva stood in the way of the Champions League again.
Although the general manager Zvezdan Terzić hastened to figuratively "throw the former coach under the train" immediately after the relegation from the Champions League qualification and thus alleviate the anger of the fans, it seems that the problem is much bigger and that it will not be able to be solved only by bringing in Alberto Rijer, the Spanish coach who achieved the greatest success in Slovenian football.
The big pink elephant in the room, which is still silent, is the question of the status of "Red Star" in Serbian football and how all those previously won titles and cups reflect on the possibility of the red and whites to make some results on the European level as well. An even bigger problem is the fact that it is somehow taken uncritically, for granted. Like a given of life and fate that cannot be influenced. And that a large number of sports journalists participate in this, who do not see anything unusual in the fact that a club is undefeated in 159 games in a row, and it is not about "Real Madrid" during the reign of Francisco Franco.
HARD EUROPEAN TERRAIN
"Crvena zvezda" started this year's campaign towards the Champions League very promisingly, because in a double match with the team "Larna" from Northern Ireland, they achieved a victory with a total score of 9:0. It could be assumed that the meeting with the Israeli "Radnik" from Be'er Sheva ("hapoel", namely, means "worker" in Hebrew) will be a somewhat more difficult but not impossible task, bearing in mind that the Israeli team is playing in nearby Hungary due to the war of the game on the "home" field, and that in the previous round the Icelandic "Vikingur" barely passed, with a score of 3:2.
Nothing could be further from the truth because "Hapoel" routinely beat "Zvezda" with a total score of 3:0 and sent its players to the playoffs for the Europa League, where they will meet the Czech team "Viktoria" from Pilsen.
Despite the football surprise, because "Zvezda" rarely loses at home against teams of that level, the main thing that evening happened when the coach of the home team, Dejan Stanković, received a red card for reacting to a referee's decision at the beginning of the second half. At that moment, the result from the first game was valid (1:0 for "Hapoel") and it was not difficult to imagine that "Zvezda" could reach and overtake that advantage. It was later found out that Stanković gave his team a very strange speech at halftime, in which he said that if they didn't win, it would be his last game in "Zvezda", which had an additional negative effect on the self-confidence of his players, who played even worse after halftime.
As if that wasn't enough for him, after the red card he had a verbal conflict with the fans from the western stand, who blamed him for leaving his team in the lurch with that exclusion. Even then it was clear that Stanković would not return to the bench and that "Zvezda" would not play in the Champions League this season.
The numbers say that the "Crvena zvezda" team lost a little more than eight and a half million euros with that defeat, while the opportunity to pour an additional 18,6 million euros into the club's coffers was lost, which would have happened if entry into the league phase of the Champions League had been achieved. Meticulous analysts of international football warn that the defeat by "Hapoel" will probably cost "Zvezda" more due to the fact that it did not increase the club's (but not the national) coefficient.
All this seems even more strange if it is known that the specialized international portal Transfermarkt estimates that the total value of the "Zvezda" team is around 117 million euros, and that all Israeli players together on the market are worth a little more than 20 million euros.
"THE BIGGEST USER OF THE STATE ATM"
The players of "Crvena zvezda" will have the opportunity to improve their impression in the first game against the Czech team on August 20, when the new issue of "Vremena" goes on sale, but it seems that even the possible success in the Europa League will not soften the criticism and poisonous arrows from the rest of the sports public that the "biggest user of the state ATM" has once again been left without the expected success on the international stage.
The fact that "Zvezda" rarely plays like that in Europe was hard on its fans, so Ljutica Bogdan immediately started a damage control action. General director Zvezdan Terzić, not at all gentlemanly, put the complete blame on Stanković, as if he was some alienated power center who came to the club of his own free will and decided everything there.
Terzić told Stanković that the players did not have enough fitness, so after half an hour of the game they seemed weak and lethargic on the field, and he also mentioned the scenes from the dressing room at halftime, when it became clear to him that some players did not have enough mental strength for what was expected of them. All that, if true, really falls under the responsibility of the coach and his associates, but it is hard to imagine that such a situation was not known before the match with the Israelis.
In accordance with the bad customs of Serbian football, Terzić verbally assumed his part of the command responsibility and said that the management does not shy away from objective analysis, but he did not resign, as would be expected in situations where someone really feels that he has a share of the blame for the failure.
After the meeting of the club's Board of Directors, he announced that extraordinary elections for the new leadership of "Crvena zvezda" will be called in December. Although he gave the right to the disaffected star players and said that "after 12 years, maybe it's time for some new people to come", Terzić did not explicitly confirm that he will not run in those elections.
On the contrary, he even turned the press conference where he formally accepted the blame for the sports failure into the first day of the election campaign, recalling that under his rule "Red Star" won nine league titles and ten group stages in European competitions.
"I would like the future leadership to surpass us. If someone thinks that with a budget of 9,2 million they can do better - you will have elections in December," Terzic said.
And there, finally, when we mention those nine consecutive titles in the domestic championship, we come to the possible and very likely cause of Zvezda's relegation from the objectively weaker and worse team from Israel.
"Star" players, accustomed to a privileged status in the Super League of Serbia, in which they can no longer lose any important match, are not capable of playing quality competitive matches on the European stage, especially against teams that have the idea of kicking their goal a few times.
Even people who would not agree with Aleksandar Vučić that Thursday comes after Wednesday somehow lightly accept that "Partizan" in the domestic league, with his undoubted "participation", has been reduced to a club whose purpose of existence is to finish the championship in second place, at best.
The last time since the Serbian Progressive Party came to power, "Partizan" was the champion in 2017, when (more thanks to "Voždovac") the then coach of "Zvezda" Miodrag Grof Božović "lost the rigged title" in the penultimate round (the copyright for this claim is owned by a progressive sports journalist who in the meantime was explained by his comrades where he was wrong, so he would not say such a thing again). Such a domestic league cannot provide anyone, not even "Zvezda", a good preparation for achieving a decent result in Europe.
To avoid accusations of bias, we'll call the numbers here. In the period from spring 2017 to December 2025, "Zvezda" played as many as 159 games at home and remained undefeated in each of them, which is still held as a world record. Previously, from 1957 to 1965, "Real Madrid" tied 122 games without defeat on their field, but no one serious, neither then nor today, perceived this exclusively as a consequence of the sporting supremacy of the royal club.
The siege of Leningrad, which is considered one of the most tragic historical episodes in the Second World War, lasted a "trivial" 900 days, while the "Zvezda" streak during that period (not comparing the consequences of the two events, but only indicating the passage of time) lasted a fascinating 3155 days.
If you look at away games as well, in the last six seasons "Zvezda" lost only ten times, and they even finished two whole seasons in that period without defeat!
DOMINANTLY BUSINESS, NOT A SPORTS PROJECT
Although it is a European precedent (African championships are not counted), the domestic sports public is not too interested in the causes and consequences of such an unusual and perhaps unnatural state of affairs, but that should not be surprising.
It is no secret that the pool of journalists who follow "Zvezda" is composed almost exclusively of die-hard fans who put their fan affiliation ahead of the expected journalistic objectivity and impartiality. If, earlier, a journalist tried to take a critical look at the work of the club from Ljutica Bogdan, he would be completely ostracized, he would not be able to count on traveling to the club's matches and preparations, getting statements from players or coaches, or even being informed about the schedule of press conferences through Viber groups. That's why something like that doesn't happen anymore.
It sounds paradoxical that, after 14 years of Vučić's rule, it is much easier to find criticism of him in the media than of "Crvena zvezda". This is also one of the reasons why such football dominance in domestic football was not valorized on the international stage this year either.
Although there should be no doubt that the omerta of sports journalists who follow "Zvezda" will continue and that from now on, as until now, there will not be too many voices in the domestic media who will problematize the treatment that "Zvezda" has in Serbian football.
But what if we are missing the whole of football here by concentrating solely on the sporting aspect of the problem? What if the idea of the leaders of "Crvena zvezda" is not for that club to be successful in Europe, but for its main role to be the production and sale of footballers, that is, for the former sports giant to be turned into a money-making machine?
Ever since Vladan Lukić was dismissed at the famous night session at the Maracana, and replaced by Nebojša Čović, Dragan Džajić, Slaviša Kokeza and, finally, Zvezdan Terzić, "Crvena zvezda" has, after continuous generous state aid, been quite successful financially.
The final business account for last year shows that "Zvezda" had record high revenues - between 102 and 104 million euros - of which the most money (68 million euros) came from player transfers. Uefa bonuses, sponsorships from "Gazprom" and "Telekom", as well as income from tickets brought an additional thirty million euros, so even with the club's large obligations, some dinars remained in the account. After the summer transfer window, the estimated value of the team was around 117 million euros, although this figure will probably be slightly adjusted after the elimination from the Champions League qualifiers.
Despite this, the data justify the assessment that "Zvezda" is predominantly a business and not a sports project. So, it is a club that uses its privileged position to attract everything that is valuable in the territory of Serbia and the surrounding countries, plus to buy some solid foreigners and then make some profit on the market.
This thesis was confirmed by Terzic himself, albeit indirectly, when he said after the relegation that "Zvezda" had too many players on the roster (33 in total) and that after relegation from the Champions League qualification, that roster would be shortened precisely for financial reasons, as the club's income would be lower than planned. So, purely economic and not sports logic.
What somehow went under the radar in the whole story about sports and money is that before the end of the game, part of the star players, as rarely, expressed their dissatisfaction with the work of the current government in Serbia. Even if it can be attributed solely to affective dissatisfaction with a defeat by a weaker team, it is impossible to overlook the fact that "Zvezda" has been mostly a symbol of Vučić's rule until now and that such things did not happen, at least not often.
After the match, there was mostly silence about it, and this journalist missed any possible columns and comments on that topic in the media. He was sometimes involved in assessing whether Stanković will continue his coaching career or whether he will fully devote himself to construction, which he successfully "bakes" between Slavija and Terazije. Others again dealt with the scope of the new coach of Rijeka, who was brought in express.
In truth, those words of criticism against the Serbian president came exclusively from the western tribune, the north did not participate in it and such a thing should not be expected, for known reasons. But it is possible that all the people who dared to verbally express their position that evening were not angry only because of bad tactics or the increase in the price of diesel, but that there are also some political motives that could become very important in the face of the announced special elections.
Why is there nothing else between the overcome regime and the changes? What does the regime mean when it says it is defending Serbia? Why is the Student Movement indomitable? Who has the knowledge and real experience, and who leads without a day of work experience outside of politics? And why students win
After almost two years of protests, hundreds of kilometers walked, arrests, persecution and unprecedented social mobilization, Serbia is holding elections that could mark the end of a political era. Sociologist Marija Babović tells "Vreme" that the hope for change has not been so great since October 5, 2000, but she also warns of the danger that, if changes are not made, the country will face an even tougher authoritarian regime.
Their only weapon now is the media they control: like, we don't have an agenda, which is not true; as, we will betray the national interest, which is not true. One of their arguments is that we are afraid to go to the debate with Vučić. They do not understand that it is their punishment. This is a punishment for Aleksandar Vučić, who for 14 years conducted exclusively a monologue. For fourteen years he did not allow anyone any kind of dialogue, and now he would like to be rewarded or pardoned with the opportunity to talk to us. Well, he won't be able to. What he sowed is now reaping
These elections are not elections about Serbia's membership in the European Union, Kosovo and Metohija, gay marriage, tax policy or any other single political issue. Although parties on the fringes of political power try to impose these themes, at the heart of the upcoming political election is a much simpler dilemma: change or preserve the existing order. For more than a year now, surveys have shown that this is the primary dilemma on the ballot
In the RS, 19.800 people registered for the elections in Serbia, who will be able to vote at 28 polling stations. It remains unknown how many of them will cross the Drina on October 25 and vote in Serbia. In any case, I do not believe that the voters from Republika Srpska are the ones who will decide the winner of the elections in Serbia. Realistically, the voters from Republika Srpska can influence a little, but it seems that they are symbolically very important to both Vučić and the opposition.
There is, literally, no difference between the one who claims it is day in the middle of the night, or the one who claims to be a giraffe, from the claims we read on billboards: that Vučić is working to unify Serbs and that Serbia is doing better and better day by day.
The pre-election arrests due to the alleged "overthrow of the state" testify to the regime's panic. The bad news for them is - they can't arrest the whole people who decided to defend themselves from progressive beatings and election theft
The ring that tightens around Ćaciland Student list is getting narrower. Because there are more and more spoiled people who see the false prophet for what he is: a street obscener who is fighting Serbia
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