Crvena Zvezda players attacked
Friday, March 22, 2002
Article summary
Three FK Crvena Zvezda players were injured as angry supporters attacked the team on Friday.
Article body
Three FK Crvena Zvezda players were injured as angry supporters attacked the team on Friday.
Scandaous assault
Milenko Acimovic, Branko Boskovic and Mihajlo Pjanovic all required treatment for minor injuries after they were attacked with bats and clubs at a Crvena Zvezda training session.
Match postponed
The Yugoslavian football authorities have given Crvena Zvezda permission to postpone their Prva Savezna Liga game against local rivals OFK Belgrade after a statement released by the club said that the attacks had ruined their preparations for the game.
’Outrageous incident’
"This outrageous incident has completely disrupted our preparations for the match and we want it postponed also because our players and coach are in a state of utter shock," the statement said.
No justification
"We are convinced that the recent poor results are not and cannot be the reason for this vandalistic attack and we will do everything to make sure it never happens again. We will protect our players and the club's reputation," it added.
Title challenge
Champions Crvena Zvezda are currently second in the 18-team Yugoslav first division, nine points behind local rivals FK Partizan with a slim chance of retaining the title after a series of indifferent performances in recent weeks.
