The unofficial sources have confirmed that the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Aleksandar Čeferin, current president of UEFA, discussed the possibility of the famed footballer Nemanja Vidić becoming the new president of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) on Friday.
Unfortunately, we can only get formal confirmation of this information in one way – if Nemanja Vidić really becomes the new president of the FSS. And that would mean a new low, not only for Serbian football but also for UEFA as an organization whose authority has been undermined for a long time, i.e. ever since former UEFA president Michel Platini became the subject of a corruption investigation.
Let’s take as a premise that, since he comes from Slovenia and knows the region and people in it well, the president of the UEFA understands who decides on everything in Serbia, including the first man of FSS.
Platini used to “buy” the votes from the Eastern members of the UEAFA in an easy way – via second-class clubs which were on their way to the Champions League and donations and permitted manipulations regarding the funds that UEFA allocated to various associations for infrastructure. Čeferin could now get the Serbian vote by promising to organize the finals of the Europa League or maybe even the Champions League on The National Stadium in Serbia, once it is built.
The Slovenian, of course, should not allow himself to announce that he talked with the president of a country about personnel solutions in the local association, because that would violate the strict FIFA and UEFA rules whereby politicians not only may not hold positions in football bodies but that they must not interfere in any way with human resources.
Logic would rather dictate that Čeferin drew Vučić’s attention to the fact that it would not be wise to appoint Branislav Nedimović (the former Serbian agriculture minister) to this position due to his obvious links with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and that UEFA will not turn a blind eye to this political interference.
However, as neither Čeferin nor UEFA had anything to say about the chaotic situation in the FSS which has been going on for years, except for the mild criticism regarding procedural errors during the appointment of Nenad Bjeković as acting FSS president, it is hard to believe that the Slovenian would dare to tell the President of Serbia what he really thinks about the situation and personnel solutions in the FSS.
It is more likely that Čeferin only asked Vučić for his support when it comes to Čeferin’s presidential bid, regardless of who will be appointed to lead the FSS.
Even if Vučić and Čeferin really took Nemanja Vidić into consideration as the new FSS president, that would realistically be detrimental to our football legend. Does he really need to be associated with the ruling political powers to be in the FSS which is managed from one centre?
(Danas, 17.01.2023)
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