HERE IS WHY SERBIA IS WITHOUT A WATER POLO HEAD COACH: The new president of the federation criticized the results of the Olympic and European champions, and added one blackmail to that…

Shock in Serbian water polo – head coach Uroš Stevanović has submitted his resignation, despite the fact that he brought Olympic and European gold to the national team. The immediate reason cited for such a decision is a statement by the new president of the Water Polo Federation of Serbia, Slobodan Soro, which caused a storm in the public.

Stevanović announced that he does not agree with the views Soro expressed in his first address, especially in the part relating to the role of the head coach and his engagement in clubs, and thus decided to step down from the position.

As a reminder, immediately upon taking the helm of the Federation, Soro openly criticized the existing system and clearly messaged that he would introduce new rules. One of the key messages related precisely to the head coaching function:

“The head coach will not be able to be a coach in a domestic club. We have had these overlaps for a long time… That is not fair to our sport. There were cases where players, in order to be national team members, were blackmailed into playing for a specific club. I repeat, that is not fair to the sport,” Soro emphasized.

This statement directly relates to the current practice in Serbian water polo, where Stevanović himself managed a club in parallel, which was obviously one of the main reasons for the disagreement.

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In his address, Soro further highlighted that it is necessary to “restore the system” and strengthen the professional staff within the Federation:

“Professional expertise must return to the Federation; our professional council is not functioning. The coaches’ association needs to get involved as much as possible. Only with a firm system can we achieve results, and that is the crown of our work,” the new president said.

Although he emphasized that he respects the results of the national team, Soro also pointed to a decline in form in recent years:

“We are Olympic and European champions, that is true, but in the last eight years, we have won only four medals. While I was playing, I won 16 medals in 17 competitions. This speaks to a change in the dynamics of results. We have started skipping competitions, not giving them importance. We must return to the old doctrine and philosophy of Serbian water polo, that every competition is the most important. Especially now when we have a team that is not at the level of previous years. All credit for both the Olympic and European gold, won recently in Belgrade, however, I think that was more a moment of inspiration than proof of great quality, as was the case before.”

Stevanović’s resignation has opened numerous questions about the future of the national team, but also about the direction in which Serbian water polo will move under the new leadership. It is clear that the conflict of vision between the head coach and the head of the Federation escalated faster than anyone expected – and the consequences are yet to be seen.