Željezničar also left without a coach, Ivković thanked the players and fans

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - FK Željezničar was also left without head of professional staff Tomislav Ivković today, after the resignation of the President of the Supervisory Board of FK Željezničar, Nazif Hasanbegović, and Supervisory Board members Kerim Karavdić and Mustafa Nurko, who also served as acting director of the Club.

Until the next session of the Club Assembly, and in accordance with the provisions of the Statute, the President of the Assembly will appoint an acting President of the Supervisory Board for a period of a maximum of six months.

At the same time, FK Željezničar informs the public that after the tender procedure, by decision of the Supervisory Board, Edison Pavlović has been chosen as the new director of the Club. In his previous career, Pavlović has, among other things, held director positions at Sarajevski Kiseljak and Oslobođenje, and will take office on January 3.

Croatian expert Tomislav Ivković stated that he did not receive guarantees that the club could secure basic necessities for the team in the next half-season, including salaries, after which he decided to resign.

"Dear all, as of today, I have unfortunately ended my cooperation with FK Željezničar. On Wednesday, when I received an email from the Supervisory Board stating that they could not guarantee securing basic necessities for the next six months, meaning salaries for players, club employees, youth academy, and everyone at Željo, I thought for two days and today I made a decision that was not easy because I had truly grown attached to the club and the players, especially the players, and I could not allow this suffering to continue.

I thank my players, whom I called heroes, and they behaved truly fantastically. They are characters rarely found, meaning they were at their best when things were toughest, they smiled instead of crying and performed in the most correct and best possible way. They gave their maximum, which resulted in 6th place, a result I consider very good considering the new team, new players, and everything we did from the start of the season, with only three weeks of preparation, a seven-day delay, and so on and so forth. I would like to thank my now new friend, whom I only met during our time at FK Željezničar, and he is the one who proposed me, and that is my Dino Handžar. He proposed me to the club management, and they accepted, giving me immense satisfaction and honor to be the coach of Željezničar, a great institution.

A club that has something very few clubs in the world have, and that is fans who stand behind the players, behind the club, who have shown true devotion to the club in these six months. The club's centenary, their fireworks which I will never forget in my life, meaning even if I had been coach for only two days and saw the fireworks and went home, my heart would have been full. I also thank them for everything, for their support, I must say that the song that was supposed to be sung elsewhere and in another place, but ultimately motivated us greatly. It gave so much strength to me, my players, the professional staff, that we truly gave our maximum, and in the end, that song became, the players declared it the anthem of the half-season, which was listened to in free time and in the locker room or wherever the players were.

A big thank you to two special people to whom I became very attached, Dino Pekić and Armando Marenzi. Thank you to everyone, and especially to them. Through this, once again, a big thank you to all journalists, print and electronic media, and TV stations with whom I had truly very good cooperation. That's football, sometimes you have to endure poorly written articles, but I didn't see anything that was so bad or malicious. Therefore, thank you all, I hope we will cooperate further, perhaps through another club or in another situation. I wish everyone a pleasant and happy New Year, which I hope will be much better than it was, both due to the coronavirus and everything else. I wish FK Željezničar all that I wish for myself and good luck," Ivković stated in a media statement.

Ivković was on the bench for the Blues for 21 matches across all competitions, achieving a record of seven wins, eight draws, and six losses.