The Supreme Court in Serbia sentenced referee Serjan Obradovic to 15 months in prison and a 10-year ban from any activity related to football, due to his tampering with the results of a match in the local league.
Obradovic awarded two controversial penalties, which were translated into two goals by Spartak from Subotica against his rival, “Rudnitzky” (2-0), in the “playoff” stage of the Serbian Football League in 2018.
Spartak won the ticket to participate in the European Football League “Europa League” the following season.
The British newspaper “The Sun” reported, according to information from “Tanjug” agency, that the Anti-Corruption Department of the Supreme Court in Serbia had charged the verdict with fraud charges three years after the incident.
The newspaper pointed out that the referee of the match, Obradovic, was the most famous red card in the face of the visiting striker Milan Pavkov, when the result indicated a goalless draw, as the player was sent off after receiving two yellow cards within two minutes.
The attacker, who was expelled, who is currently playing with Tsarvina Zvezda’s team, “Red Star”, attended the referee’s hearing in a Belgrade court, and was the main witness in the case.
And in the second penalty shot in the 78th minute, the crowd was surprised by the referee calculating a penalty kick without any mistake inside the penalty area.
The court heard Obradovic’s defense that he had seen a handball confirmed to him by his assistant, so he counted the penalty kick, but was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
It is noteworthy that the President of the Serbian Football Association, Slavisa Kukiza, decided on Monday, March 22, to resign from his post after he was subjected to interrogation by police officers in relation to the investigations of organized crime, while the country’s public prosecutor opened an investigation into possible charges related to murder and trade. Drugs and kidnapping.
Media reports revealed that Kokiza’s name came in the investigations based on the allegations of a mafia leader who was arrested with many people in early February, while Slavisa stressed his innocence, but he explained the resignation as not compromising the reputation of the Serbian Football Association.
Three weeks after the start of the investigations, no charges were brought against Kokiza, while the police forces launched a massive raid campaign against the headquarters of Partizan clubs and the Red Star, Belgrade’s soccer poles, and weapons and forensic evidence were confiscated from the stadiums of the two teams.
Initial investigations indicate that the mafia leader controls the extremist Partizan fan group in Serbia, in a scene that extends to other countries in the Balkans, where such groups have been strongly associated with criminal organizations, drug trafficking and kidnapping.
Source: Agencies
