It’s not easy being a fan of football club Hajduk Split, and after last night’s events at Poljud which forced the club to erupt into total chaos, the Split air feels a bit thicker today.
After a brutal Europa League elimination last Thursday where Hajduk fell to FCSB in Bucharest, Hajduk hosted Gorica for a league game at Poljud on Sunday. Gorica, mind you, is a team that was promoted from the Croatian Second League this season. What should have been a painless win saw Hajduk lose 0:2 in front of 11,000 whistling, booing, and outraged fans. Toricda even brought back a chant it seems we haven’t heard since the winter – “play pu**ies”. After only four league matches, Hajduk is in eighth place with just two points.
As soon as the final whistle blew for a Hajduk defeat, coach Željko Kopić and Sports Director Saša Bjelanović offered their resignations, though the entire administration may be on their way out after the painful scenes at Poljud where fans threw flares at the players, reports Index.hr on August 20, 2018.
“I do not have a dilemma around responsibility, all of us in NO should take responsibility and leave their places to new people,” said Denis Kosor, a member of the Hajduk Supervisory Board (NO).
“For a long time, NO has not acted as a team, we do not have a common ground, and as a body, we avoided re-examining our errors and the absence of self-criticism is evident. It is time for new people in the NO, and I am convinced that there will be quality candidates, and the existing NO can technically perform a short transitional period,” added Kosor.
Hajduk’s Supervisory Board President, Slaven Marasovic, has no comment on the club’s latest events, for now. Nikica Krnić, Marko Erceg, Denis Kosor, Antonio Kuzmanić, Anthony Marinov and Ante Šalinović are still a part of the Supervisory Board. The elections for the Supervisory Board were held on July 2, 2015, and 3,198 fans voted in the elections.
After last night’s match, the eastern tribune of Poljud could be heard screaming “Administration out!”, and some fans in the western tribune told the leaders of the club that they should be the ones running away from the flares in the north stands, not the players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=BvCFuMiv4Cc
In a turn of events, this afternoon, Hajduk President Jasmin Huljaj announced that Saša Bjelanović remains the Hajduk sports director and Željko Kopić the Hajduk coach, declining their resignations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=QsZI8ZE_FUA
“Sports director Saša Bjelanović and first-team coach Željko Kopić made their mandates available after the game last night, which I did not accept as the President of the Board. Both of them have my full confidence, and I am convinced of their knowledge and energy and that the situation around the team will be significantly improved in the future,” the Hajduk president said in a brief statement.
What will happen next, we aren’t really sure.
