EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FA OF SERBIA | BRANKO RADUJKO NEW FAS GENERAL SECRETARY

Executive Committee of the FA of Serbia met today in the FAS Sports Centre in Stara Pazova. The meeting was chaired by the FAS President, Dragan Džajić.

Executive Committee appointed Branko Radujko as the new General Secretary of the FA of Serbia. The decision was made unanimously respecting the laws of the Republic of Serbia and with consent and in accordance with regulations of the European Football Union (UEFA).

“I would like to thank everyone for their trust shown. There are great opportunities and challenges before Serbian football, and great responsibility before us in the Association. We will work hard, diligently and relentlessly. It is not the first time for me to take on a serious job and as always, I intend to leave behind an organized and sustainable system, a successful organization that achieves set goals.

Football is the most popular sport and the greatest entertainment in the world, but also a serious, powerful industry, important for the gross domestic product and economy of each country, for its international reputation, for people’s health and for general social values.

The most powerful companies invest in football and thus build and strengthen contacts, their own reputation and positions on the global market. We also must change the perception and deal with football in a way that will ensure our long-term competitiveness and that our society and the state will receive more than invested.

Today, our country invests in football and in sports in general more than ever. Important buildings are being built all over Serbia, construction of the National Stadium is under way, the infrastructure is rising. We will host the UEFA Congress next year, we expect the organization of the Europa League final, we want to host the European Championship for youth categories, as well as many other important football events in our country in the near future.

Our national team regularly plays big competitions, now also the A League of the Nations League, national U-17 team played the semi-finals of the European U-17 Championship, we expect a lot from that generation…

With their fantastic series of eight years in a row in the Champions League or the Europa League, FK Crvena zvezda show that we can be competitive in the European football market. TSC is playing in the group stage of European competitions this year. FK Partizan is a great club, they will play in Europe again, FK Čukarički, and FK Vojvodina are getting better and better, FK Radnički Kragujevac and FK Novi Pazar are getting stronger, football centres are rising, and we must not stop now. On the contrary, it is necessary to roll up our sleeves and go into the dynamic development of Serbian football at full throttle.

We will lift spirits in Serbian football. We will react decisively and very quickly to any activity or irregularity that could lead to negative consequences for our football and our status at UEFA. There cannot and will not be any compromise on that.

Our priority is to create a healthy and sustainable system that will enable Serbian football to continuously develop – from football schools, through the youth age to the highest levels.

I strongly believe that the Football Association of Serbia can be a leader in the region in terms of innovation, transparency and unity.

We will invest in thorough education of coaches, professional staff and referees. We will strengthen support for grassroots programs and football schools. People to whom we entrust talented children must be trained to work with them, so that our talents do not fail or are constantly injured. We must guide those children to become top athletes, great champions and national team members of their country, but also good people. We will not be ashamed to ask and request help from FIFA, UEFA and the most successful European associations; let them send us instructors, to share the knowledge and experience with which they achieved the highest results – not only in players training, but also in preparation, recovery, injury prevention, nutrition, logistics, and infrastructure.

We will not neglect either futsal or women’s football. It is our obligation to UEFA, but also our human and professional duty. We will publish regular activity reports on the realization of sports, financial and business results.

We will support open communication. The doors of the association will be open to every former national team player, coach, successful sports worker. We will accept every constructive suggestion, question and well-intentioned criticism, but we will not waste our energy on flat and baseless stories. In the first days, we will analyze the past and current activities of the Association, we will review in detail the financial situation and personnel and organizational capacities. We will present the plans to the public very soon and start implementing measures and activities for their realization.

Football is loved in Serbia, football belongs to all of us, and that is why I invite everyone – clubs, fans, media and the community at large, to build a new chapter of Serbian football together.

Anyone who is not ready for hard and honest work is not for this team. There are no reasons why we cannot succeed! Long live Serbia!” – said Branko Radujko, thanking the members of the FAS Executive Committee for their trust.

Branko Radujko Biography

Until his appointment as FAS General Secretary, from 2021, Mr Radujko held the position of General Director of the Customs Administration within the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia.

Before that, from 2012 to 2021, he worked in the company NIS Gazpromneft, within one of the largest energy companies in the world, Gazprom, as the Executive Director for retail, i.e. the Director for the Adriatic region.

As the General Director of Telekom Srbija from 2008 to 2012, he led the company’s transformation process and together with his team launched IP television and the development of multimedia services with a focus on creating sports content and programs.

In the period 2011 -2012, Mr Radujko renewed and improved strategic cooperation with the FAS and the Super League Clubs Union in order to improve the football infrastructure and create conditions for playing matches in marketing-attractive evening hours, with a new dimension of monitoring and broadcasting domestic football competitions on a larger number of channels and a significant increase in TV rights income for all clubs.

In addition to supporting sports clubs and national associations through sponsorship and business projects, since 2010 he has been a member of the management and management bodies of FK Crvena Zvezda, FK Grafičar and the Athletics Federation of Serbia.

Before his corporate business career, he worked in the governmental and non-governmental sector, i.e. at the very beginning of his career, Mr Radujko in a reputable Belgrade law firm.

He was born in Knin in 1974. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro in 1998.

He obtained the degree of Master of Management at the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration in Belgrade in 2013.

He speaks English and Russian.

He lives in Belgrade with his wife Aleksandra and sons Stefan and Aleksa.