Latest Serbia Soccer News

NYON, Switzerland (AP) _ European soccer's governing body disqualified Partizan Belgrade from the UEFA Cup on Thursday following crowd trouble during a qualifying match against Zrinjski. Twenty-eight police officers were injured, one seriously, when Partizan's Serbian supporters fought with Zrinjski's Bosnian-Croat fans in a first-round qualifying match on July 19 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Partizan, which won the first-leg match 6-1, was also fined 50,000 Swiss francs (C$43,485). The club has three days to appeal the decision. Subject to an appeal, Zrinjski ...

Blaz Sliskovic has been fired as Bosnia coach. Sliskovic had said he would quit if Bosnia didn't win its first two 2008 European Championship qualifiers. The team beat Malta 5-2, but his resignation offer was rejected after a 3-1 defeat to Hungary. However, Bosnia lost 4-0 to Greece on Oct. 11 and Sliskovic was fired Friday by the national federation. The 47-year-old Sliskovic had been coach of Bosnia since 2002. No replacement has been announced. Bosnia is fourth in Group ...

Serbian police arrested 152 people Wednesday for chanting anti-Muslim slogans at a soccer match. The fans of Belgrade's second division club Rad were rounded up after a game against Novi Pazar, a predominantly Muslim club. Belgrade police official Slobodan Vukolic said the fans were detained for chants including ``Serbia for the Serbs only,'' and ``Out with the Muslims.'' Vukolic said the detainees, including 47 minors, are accused of ``inciting racial ...

Veteran coach Bora Milutinovic is close to taking over the Jamaican national team. Crenston Boxhill, president of the Jamaica Football Federation, said he expects the Serbian-born Milutinovic to sign a coaching contract soon. Milutinovic is the only man to coach five different teams at the World Cup, having led Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States, Nigeria and China. Jamaica, which qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France, was eliminated ...

Serbia's Ratomir Dujkovic has been approached to coach China's Olympic soccer team ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games, according to a report. The state-run Beijing Times newspaper said in a report on its web site that the Chinese Football Association had made a decision to hire former Ghana coach Dujkovic and was in the process of finalizing his contract. The newspaper said details such as Dujkovic's salary and what, if ...

Montenegro was granted provisional membership of UEFA on Thursday, while European soccer's governing body postponed a decision on Gibraltar's application following objections from Spain. Montenegro, a Balkan republic of 620,000, gained independence after it split from Serbia in June. Both countries were part of the old Yugoslav federation, although Serbia succeeds the former Yugoslavia in UEFA's records and was not required to seek readmission. Full membership, allowing participation in competitions ...

Striker Mateja Kezman remained out of Serbia's squad for the country's upcoming European Championship qualifiers. Serbia's coach Javier Clemente on Wednesday recalled defender Ivica Dragutinovic for the matches in Belgrade on Oct. 7 against Belgium and four days later against Armenia. Kezman, who this summer transferred from Spain's Atletico Madrid to Turkey's Fenerbahce, served out his two-match ban for a red card during the World Cup. However, Clemente decided to ...

Brazilian striker Ailton and Segundo Castillo of Ecuador joined Red Star Belgrade. Ailton most recently played for Hamburg on loan from Besiktas. He was Bundesliga's leading scorer in 2003-04 for Werder Bremen. The 33-year-old arrived in Belgrade overnight after the deal was agreed hours before Thursday's transfer deadline, the Serbian champion said Friday. Details were not immediately released, but local media reported the transfer fee being about 300,000 euros ($432,290 ...

Red Star Belgrade sold captain Nenad Kovacevic to Lens on Wednesday as the defending Serbian champion continued to sell its players. Red Star president Dragan Stojkovic said the French club ``made an offer for Kovacevic that could not be refused.'' He did not disclose the transfer fee for the Serbian international. The 25-year-old midfielder is the fourth Red Star player to be sold since last week's 2-1 loss to AC ...

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) _ Serbia's international defender Milan Bisevac has signed for Lens from Red Star Belgrade. He will start playing for the French first division club from January. Red Star president Dragan Stojkovic did not disclose the transfer fee, but the five-year deal was reportedly worth 2.5 million euros ($3.54 million Cdn). Stojkovic said that Red Star wanted Bisevac to remain at the club until the Serbian champions found ...

TOKYO (AP) _ Former Yugoslavia soccer coach Ivica Osim on Friday accepted an offer to take charge of Japan's national team. Osim and Japan Football Association chief Saburo Kawabuchi announced the appointment at a press conference Friday. ``It's an honour ... I hope to build a playing style that's unique to Japan,'' Osim said through an interpreter. Osim, 65, led Yugoslavia to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup in ...