Sun, sea and soccer

By Aleksandar Boškovic

With the Serbo-Montenegrin season resuming on 19 February, the country's leading clubs are taking advantage of the break to do some warm weather training.

Turkish trips
FK Partizan, FK Crvena Zvezda, OFK Beograd, FK Vojvodina, FK Železnik and FK Radnicki Novi Beograd are all in Antalya, Turkey - where Partizan will play Croatia's HNK Hajduk Split in a friendly, their first meeting in 15 years. Other sides are in Cyprus, while FK Cukaricki selected the Croatian resort of Medulin, traditional base of the old Yugoslavian national team.

Partizan signings
Partizan, the unbeaten league leaders, will return to action first with a UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie at home to Ukrainian outfit FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 16 February. In anticipation, they have signed Nigerian striker Obiora Emmanuel Odita and Korean Republic defender Chi-Woo Kim.

Captain to leave
Crvena Zvezda, three points adrift in second place, have landed midfielder Ardijan Djokaj from OFK. However, captain and goalkeeper Vladimir Dišljenkovic and defender Marjan Markovic will leave in June when their contracts expire. Meanwhile, the club's academy has a new director in 35-year-old former Yugoslavian international Goran Djordjic.

Andjelkovic blow
FK Zeta, the season's surprise package in third place, and FK Buducnost Podgorica in fifth, have decided against making signings. Mid-table Vojvodina have added Ugandan defender Jozeph Kizito, while a second OFK player, striker Miloš Kolakovic, has joined Hungary's Debreceni VSC. On the injury front, Novi Beograd defender Dušan Andjelkovic broke a collarbone in training and will be out for six months.

New coaches
Elsewhere, the bottom two clubs have new coaches - Miroljub Ostojic at Železnik and Goran Carlov at FK Hajduk Beograd. Also under new management are FK Sutjeska, with ex-goalkeeper Pero Giljen taking charge.

Obilic concerns
FK Obilic, 14th in the 16-team table, face a difficult spring because of financial problems. Wages have been defaulted for several months, leading to players such as Slavoljub Krnjinac, Bojan Zajic, Jane Gavalovski, Ivan Jovanovic and Dušan Djokic demanding transfers, while running water has been cut off due to unpaid bills.

Terzic appointment
Finally, OFK director Zvezdan Terzic has been named president of the Football Association of Serbia, taking over from Nebojša Lekovic at the body which forms the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro alongside its Montenegrin counterpart.