SFK 2000 Sarajevo's road to success
Friday, September 5, 2025
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As Bosnia and Herzegovina's most successful women's club prepare to compete in the inaugural UEFA Women's Europa Cup, SFK 2000 Sarajevo founder Samira Hurem reflects on the foundations of their record-breaking domestic success and the importance of European club competitions.
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Sarajevo have won all there is to win at domestic level, celebrating a record 23rd consecutive Ženska Premijer Liga title in May. On the European stage, they have been a regular in the UEFA Women's Champions League, entering qualifying at the start of this season for a record 23rd time. They have reached the final 32 on four occasions.
Sarajevo fell short of reaching the league phase of the Women's Champions League this time around, but the new European women's club competition system means they have a second shot at glory in the brand-new UEFA Women's Europa Cup.
Sarajevo's journey began in 2000, when founder Samira Hurem quit her medical studies to create the club. A player for FK Željezničar in the 1990s, Hurem also made numerous appearances for Bosnia and Herzegovina's national women's team.
She played for Sarajevo after its foundation, before taking up the head coach role once she retired. She oversaw all of Sarajevo's 23 league titles, while also spending a decade at the helm of the national women's team.
Today, Hurem has handed over her coaching duties and is now Sarajevo's president, working on developing the club's structures, standards and visibility. As they embark on their Women's Europa Cup qualifying campaign, she reflects on her career with the club.
How did you come up with the idea to found your own women’s football club?
When I would travel home from university on the tram, I would see girls playing football in parks and wondered why they had nowhere to train. That’s how the idea of the club came about.
On the weekends, I tried to gather the girls and teach them football from scratch. We trained where we could – sometimes the police would drive us away.
Soon we entered the league, and in our third season we became champions. At that point, I left my medical studies and transferred to my university’s faculty of sports. I completed my coaching licence while working at a school and refereeing matches so that we would have money for balls and equipment. And so, a small idea turned into a big story.
What is behind Sarajevo's continued success?
It is the continuity in work. At the beginning, we were not all experts, but we had emotion and dedication. Over time, we have built a system in which players grow as athletes, and in which there is trust.
That is our formula – daily work, expertise, dedication and emotion. This is the only way to achieve stable results.
What challenges have you faced, and how have they shaped the club?
Today, it is sometimes said that it’s 'easy' for Sarajevo, but we have gone through a difficult path.
In establishing a women’s football club in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most difficult thing was to provide basic conditions – pitches, support, and continuity of work with the girls. Players must not feel the burden of these problems, so I put my worries aside and looked for solutions. I was not alone, I was accompanied by players, assistants and people who supported us.
The hard road has shaped us. It taught us not to fall apart after the first problem, but to grow from it, looking for solutions, not excuses, in crises.
Why is European competition important for a team like Sarajevo, and what do you think of the new format?
On the European stage you represent your club, city and country. For years, we have hosted European qualifying tournaments, which has built recognition of women's football in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Each trip to Europe has raised the quality of the team and the visibility of the players. We have reached the round of 32 of the Champions League four times. Good performances have also brought good transfers.
The new UEFA competition system is good because it means more games and stronger competition. The road to the Champions League is harder, but better in terms of development because it gives us more European matches.
What are Sarajevo's European goals for the next two seasons?
In the short term, we want to steadily progress through the qualifying tournaments and win as many European matches as possible, because that is how we grow fastest.
In the medium term, the goal is to return to the Champions League and consistently perform at that level. For the team, this requires greater competition in every position and organisational progress, which we are making through the academy, our scouting department and in cooperation with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation.