The president of Basketball Club Partizan, Ostoja Mijailović, is going through perhaps the most difficult period since taking charge of the black-and-whites.
The club is in a deep results and organizational crisis, and fan dissatisfaction is growing day by day.
A large part of the “Grobari” openly believes that Mijailović is the main culprit for the current situation, which is why calls for his resignation are becoming increasingly loud. The Partizan president has been the target of criticism, whistles, and insults for months, and the atmosphere around the club has reached a boiling point.
The situation took on an additional political dimension after the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, spoke out, at least indirectly. During one of his regular public addresses, Vučić uttered a sentence that many immediately linked precisely to Ostoja Mijailović.
“You have some people who don’t dare to appear, who are in certain clubs, who don’t dare to go and watch their own club. Because they are afraid of what someone might shout at them from the stands,” Vučić said.
Although he did not mention a name, the message was more than clear, especially at a time when it is known that the Partizan president rarely appears at games in the Arena, precisely because of the negative reaction of part of the fans.
Vučić then further “tightened” the tone, drawing a parallel between himself and the people he described, emphasizing his own courage and readiness to face pressure.
“I am at my job every day. Every day someone protests against me and shouts. And I have no problem with that. I do my job and I will continue to do so,” the President of Serbia said.
Such a statement was perceived as a direct blow to Ostoja Mijailović, whom part of the public has long accused of hiding from responsibility at a moment when Partizan is sinking.
The entire story is given additional weight by the fact that Mijailović and Vučić are politically connected – both are members of the Serbian Progressive Party. Ostoja Mijailović is a member of the SNS Main Board, while Vučić is formally only a party member, but with absolute political power.
At a moment when the results are catastrophic, the fans are embittered, and support for the club is on the verge of breaking, the question remains:
Is this a signal that even the President of Serbia, his mentor, has turned his back on Ostoja Mijailović?
One thing is certain – the pressure has never been greater, and the days ahead for the Partizan president seem harder than ever.