Chaos in the national team: Water polo players speak out – 11 of them will no longer play for Serbia!

• He led Serbia to the top of Europe, then stepped down!

The situation in the Serbia national water polo team escalated after strong reactions from players following recent statements by the Water Polo Federation of Serbia (VSS) president Slobodan Soro.

In an open letter addressed to the public, the players explained their decision to step away from the national team while Soro remains in charge. The statement reads:

“Dear public,

As long-standing national team members, current European and three-time Olympic champions, we feel it is necessary to address the recent developments in our Federation.

The new president of the Federation, Slobodan Soro, has on several occasions attempted through his statements to discredit and belittle all our achievements in recent years. Our gold medals are not the result of momentary inspiration, as he claims, but of years of sacrifice, training, unity, and struggle.

We would also like to remind the public that some players in the current national team have already been subjected to unsportsmanlike actions by Slobodan Soro and his team at VK Novi Beograd, including training bans, exclusions from the club, and being prevented from playing for the national team. We believe these actions were aimed at harming our national team and its unity.

Our team, as the most successful national team in Serbia, deserves a federation president worthy of everything we have achieved — someone who will defend our interests, support us, respect our achievements, and encourage further success.

After much reflection and discussion, we have unanimously decided to withdraw from playing for the Serbia national water polo team as long as Slobodan Soro and his team remain in charge.

This decision was extremely difficult, as playing for the national team has always been our greatest honor and dream. However, we feel it is necessary to raise our voice against those who seek to discredit and undermine the achievements of Serbian water polo for personal interests.

We call for support from former and current athletes and all those who care about the future of our sport”, it is said in the letter.

The statement was signed by several key national team players, including team's captain Nikola Jakšić, followed by Radoslav Filipović, Dušan Mandić, Strahinja Rašović, Sava Ranđelović, Đorđe Lazić, Radomir Drašović, Nemanja Vico, Nikola Dedović, Petar Jakšić, Viktor Rašović.