Young Players Leave to Seek Better Futures
Poor facilities, lack of a training program, poor play and low salaries make young players susceptible to the lure of playing abroad for more money.
Poor facilities, lack of a training program, poor play and low salaries make young players susceptible to the lure of playing abroad for more money.
In the "wild west" environment of the BiH Football Association, men with histories of legal trouble and little experience in sports are given top posts, resulting in mediocre play and disappointment among fans.
Knowing the right people, or being related to them, can insure success in football.
The members of BH Fanaticos speak out.
The mildest criticism against the BiH Football Association by players, fans, referees or reporters can bring phone calls, harassment or pressure to quit.
A system that values everything but managerial skills and allows complex relationships and multiple positions is the basis for the organization of football's administration in BiH.
Bet shops take special care not to lose money on BiH Premier League matches whose outcomes everyone knows in advance. The real losers are fans.
In BiH, the home field advantage gives teams more than a slight edge. Even the worst teams rarely lose at home, unlike teams in other leagues in Europe.
Suspicions that some football games are rigged are supported by the man who started as a so-so player, learned how to throw games and then continued what he called his “live achievement.”
When a player becomes a national hero, money follows, and his old club stands to profit. In one Macedonian trade, the money never reached the club.
Serbia’s football leaders turned to questionable means of doing business during years of embargo. Such schemes drew the interests of volatile and violent people.
Many business figures have held leadership positions in Serbia’s football clubs or sports associations over the years, raising the question of whether they will seek ownership of the clubs if they are privatized. Here is a partial list of clubs and the businessmen who have been associated with them.
Skeletons are in the closet of many football clubs, says a former chief prosecutor, but two closets are particularly full.
Owners and top managers of football clubs in two of the Ukraine’s regions, Tavriya (Simferopol) in Crimea and Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod) in Transcarpthia are linked to "classic” organized crime involving assaults, murders and illegal weapons possession.