1999–2000 First League of FR Yugoslavia

1999–2000 First League of FR Yugoslavia
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Statistics of First League of FR Yugoslavia in season 1999/2000.

Contents

Overview

Twenty one teams contested the league championship this season. Red Star Belgrade managed to win it in the end with four points more than eternal rivals FK Partizan.

Tragedy at the Eternal Derby: death of Aca Radović

The season was marred by the tragic event that occurred on October 31, 1999 during Partizan vs. Red Star tie (the 113th edition of the so-called Večiti derbi) when 17-year-old Red Star fan Aleksandar "Aca" Radović from Opovo got killed by a signaling rocket fired from within the stadium. Radović was supporting his team from the Partizan Stadium's north end when in 20th minute of the match he got hit in the chest by a signaling rocket fired from the opposite end of the stadium, which is where Partizan fans were located. Partizan just scored a goal to go up 1-0 and certain members of their fans Grobari fired a series of ship signaling rockets from the south stand where they traditionally gather as a way of celebrating the goal. Most of those rockets landed on the stadium's north stand where Red Star's fans Delije always gather, and one of them hit the unfortunate teenager right in the chest near his throat. He died almost instantly as he was being moved from the stands onto the stadium's athletic track and into the ambulance car.[1]

Amazingly, the match was not stopped and the two teams continued playing, a decision that led to a lot of public criticism directed at two clubs, the football league, and the FA.

Further investigation conducted by the police discovered that the particular rocket that killed Radović was fired by 25-year-old Partizan fan Majk Halkijević. In addition to Halkijević, three other individuals Nenad "Kec" Kecojević, Aleksandar "Sale" Aleksić, and Zoran "Prcko" Jovanović were also firing rockets at the stadium on the same occasion. According to the investigation, the ship signaling rockets were originally purchased in Greece before being smuggled into Serbia. In Belgrade, Grobari leader Zoran "Čegi" Živanović bought 10 of them along with 60 flares, all from Mirko Urban. Čegi brought the stuff to Partizam Stadium on the day of the derby, handing it over to Časlav "Čaja" Kurandić. Čaja then snuck the flares and rockets into the stadium with help from FK Partizan's equipment manager Branko "Gavran" Vučićević who hid them inside the bags with team's sports equipment. Once inside the team's dressing room the packages with flares and rockets were passed to Goran "Tuljak" Matović and Dragan "Lepi Gaga" Petronić through the dressing room's window. From then on the packages were carried through east stand and onto the south stand through the protective fence while Nikola "Džoni" Dedović diverted steward's attention. On the south stand, group leader Čegi distributed the rockets and flares to certain number of Grobari, including Majk Halkijević.[2]

At the trial that dragged on for almost two years, the accused were not tried for murder but for a lesser charge of disturbing public order and causing general endangerment. The verdict was delivered on March 1, 2001 with Halkijević getting one year and 11 months sentence.[3] Aleksandar "Sale" Aleksić got one year and eight months while Nenad "Kec" Kecojević, Zoran "Čegi" Živanović (Grobari leader) and Časlav "Čaja" Kurandić got year and a half. Furthermore, Dragan "Lepi Gaga" Petronić and Srđan Šalipurović got six months, while Mirko Urban also known as Mirko Pekar (Mirko the Baker), accused of selling the rockets to Grobari, got year and a half.[4] Others who were on the accused list but received no sentence were Zoran "Prcko" Jovanović, Nikola "Džoni" Dedović, Branko "Gavran" Vučićević, and Goran "Tuljak" Matović.[5]

League standings

Pos Club P W D L GF GA Pts
1 Red Star 40 33 6 1 85 19 105
2 Partizan 40 32 5 3 111 30 101
3 Obilić 40 28 5 7 71 32 89
4 Rad Beograd 40 17 9 14 56 46 60
5 Sutjeska 40 17 9 14 50 50 60
6 Čukarički 40 15 11 14 42 43 56
7 OFK Beograd 40 15 10 15 58 62 55
8 Železnik 40 15 9 16 55 47 54
9 Zemun 40 15 9 16 47 57 54
10 Vojvodina 40 15 8 17 54 40 53
11 Radnički Niš 40 16 4 20 50 49 52
12 Budućnost Podgorica 40 15 7 18 45 45 52
13 Radnički Kragujevac 40 13 13 14 35 41 52
14 Hajduk Kula 40 15 7 18 39 46 52
15 Milicionar 40 14 9 19 52 52 51
16 Sartid 40 14 8 18 42 47 50
17 Proleter 40 12 10 18 36 49 46
18 Hajduk Beograd 40 14 3 23 56 75 45
19 Mogren Budva 40 13 5 22 40 70 44
20 Spartak Subotica 40 8 5 27 34 84 29
21 Borac Čačak 40 6 4 30 36 100 22

Champions

Red Star Belgrade (Coach: Miloljub Ostojić (sacked couple of weeks into the season), Slavoljub Muslin)

Players (league matches/league goals)

References

  1. ^ Radović Aca; B92 Blog, 31 October 2008
  2. ^ Ubistvo na stadionu;NIN 4 November 1999
  3. ^ Navijačima od šest do 23 meseca; Glas javnosti, 1 March 2001
  4. ^ Grupi navijaca zatvorske kazne;novine.ca, 2001
  5. ^ Uneli rakete kroz svlačionicu; Glas javnosti, 2 November 1999
  6. ^ Red Star official website

External links

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