Željezničar in active search for strategic partner: The Blues part of BiH business delegation on the Arabian Peninsula

(Patria) - Football club Željezničar recently published a new public call for strategic partnership, opening the club from “Grbavica” to potential investors and further stabilisation of the club, writes scsport.ba.

Fan reactions to this call are mostly positive due to its precision, conciseness, realistic assessments, and the model in which the club would not be excluded from decision-making on important matters, primarily infrastructure. Fans also praised the possibility of separate investment in the sports segment and infrastructure, and the call itself contains everything necessary for interested partners, the public, and above all, the army of “Blues” fans.

However, as announced by the management of FK Željezničar, i.e., the team in charge of the recently published public call, they will not just “sit” and wait for someone to “come forward on their own” but will work proactively and initiate contacts worldwide to get a positive response to the call as soon as possible.

“The working group appointed by the Assembly of FK Željezničar is actively working on finding a strategic partner. Instead of waiting, we are taking proactive steps to find an adequate partner who will contribute to the club's development. The public call was published seven days ago, and we have already had several meetings and activities, which will intensify in the coming weeks. Several potential investors have already officially applied, along with a significant number who have signaled that they are seriously considering submitting an offer,” stated Željezničar.

This is also confirmed by the recent departure of the FK Željezničar delegation to Saudi Arabia. The “Blues” are traveling as part of a larger business delegation organized by the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Sport Centar learns, this visit to Saudi Arabia aims to strengthen existing ties and create new ones between the Bosnian and Saudi economies.

The FK Željezničar delegation is expected to present the new business model and public call to several potential strategic partners. From Grbavica, they say that any eventual cooperation between Željezničar and one of the potential strategic partners could be one of the largest international investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Also, a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina will travel with the business delegation, aiming to use diplomatic channels for the most successful visit of the business delegation. Two embassies are involved in organizing this visit – the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to FK Željezničar, the delegation will include about thirty top companies from the fields of real estate, food production, information technology, telecommunications, tourism, defense, and other industries.

This visit, however, is not related to the cooperation that FK Željezničar had with the Future Falcons program, i.e., the Ministry of Sports of Saudi Arabia, Sport Centar learns. That cooperation did “collapse” when it comes to the senior team of the “Blues,” but it remains in force regarding the Youth Academy.

Also, we exclusively learn that this will not be the only trip abroad for the FK Željezničar delegation. It is assumed that other addresses will be visited where the public call could be presented, but it is not yet precisely known where and when.

“We are approaching the public call with utmost seriousness. We are trying to seize every opportunity to present the project, because you never know which contact might ultimately produce the best offer for the club. At this stage, it is crucial that as many potential investors as possible see our presentation, to convince themselves of the potential of cooperation with FK Željezničar. For all seriously interested parties, we are ready to travel throughout BiH and the entire world to present our conceptual solutions. The public call is open until 26.05.2024, and we will strive until the last day to attract as many interested parties as possible. After that, negotiations follow and the selection of the best offer for the club,” said Željezničar for Sport Centar.

Željezničar also applied with the new public call to the network of diplomatic-consular missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina worldwide, via the digital platform “Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

It has long been known that Željezničar is in serious financial, organizational, and sporting problems. Because of this, the Assembly, the club's highest body, voted that the official club policy must be one in which Željezničar will continue its existence with a strategic partner.

The management of the “Blues” is evidently seriously adhering to this policy and is actively working to resolve the problems that have dealt a heavy blow to Željezničar, and to turn a new, brighter page in its 103-year history.