March 27 – Serbian-American businessman Milan Mandaric has been appointed vice president of the Serbian Vojvodina Novi Sad. The 85-year-old billionaire was elected to the post unanimously by the Vojvodina General Assembly of Vojvodina on Tuesday.
Mandaric (pictured left) had been offered the presidency of the club he played for as a young man, however he declined in favour of the vice-president’s rle of Vojvodina. Mandaric was born in Gospic, then part of the former Yugoslavia (today Croatia) but grew up in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Mandaric is one of footballs most recognisable names when it comes to club ownership. He is the former owner of English clubs Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, as well as the Belgium’s Charleroi and Nice in France. More recently he owned Slovenian side Olimpia Ljubljana, until 2021.
“I am happy and satisfied that I got to know President Dragoljub Zbiljić and the people around him. We had fantastic conversations and it wasn’t hard to say yes. More than once there was talk that I could return to Novi Sad and Vojvodina, but the road always took me to the other side, to France, Netherlands, England. I am proud to finally be here and I am honored to be a part of Vojvodina. I will do everything in my power to use my experience and desire to help return Vojvodina to where it should be, which is to fight for the top of the table and to be a real European club”, said Mandaric.
“Today, when I came here and saw these fields, I couldn’t believe what conditions this club has. There aren’t many of them in England. I have a great desire to develop the youth school, which was always my first task in every club I came to.
“Also, it is important for me to have a real dialogue with the fans, to bring them back to the stands, because they are one of the main segments of our partnership. We are all partners here and we all have the same goal, which is to be the best in what we do and to return Vojvodina to where it belongs, to fight for trophies and to be recognized in Europe. It will be my great pleasure to help with that, thank you for your trust, I hope I will not disappoint you.”
In December 2009 Mandaric was charged with tax evasion covering the period he owned Portsmouth from 1998 to 2006. He was charged alongside his manager Harry Rednapp but was not found guilty in 2012.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1732319472labto1732319472ofdlr1732319472owedi1732319472sni@o1732319472fni1732319472