Coach Tumbaković dismissed after refusing to lead Montenegro against Kosovo

PODGORICA, (Patria) - Ljubiša Tumbaković has been dismissed as head coach of the Montenegrin national football team after refusing to lead the team in the match against Kosovo, the Football Association of Montenegro announced.

The Executive Board of the Football Association of Montenegro held an extraordinary session due to the events in and around the "A national team" ahead of the third round match of the EURO 2020 qualifiers against the Kosovo team.

"Members of the Executive Board made a unanimous decision to dismiss the current national team coach Ljubiša Tumbaković due to his decision not to lead the team in the aforementioned match, which represents an unpleasant surprise and a violation of professional obligations defined by the contract. Furthermore, the Executive Board decided that the national team will be led by the duo Miodrag Džudović and Dragoje Leković in the match against the Czech Republic," the statement said.

Members of the Executive Board expressed great regret that pressures from certain circles led to Filip Stojković and Mirko Ivanić not playing in this important match for the national team, and that unsportsmanlike conduct prevailed over football and sports in this case.

As a reminder, Tumbaković, as well as two Red Star Belgrade players, Marko Ivanić and Filip Stojković, who were born in Serbia but play for the Montenegrin national team, were subjected to great pressure and threats from fan factions in Belgrade in the previous days, to prevent the mentioned coach and players from playing against the Kosovo team.