Red Star Belgrade’s board has stepped down amid a growing financial crisis at the Serbian first division side, the club has confirmed.
The board resigned on Monday after club president Dobrivoje Tanasijevic quit last week when it emerged that the club owed around €23 million to creditors.
Many players have not been paid for months, while the club also had its water supply and telephone lines cut for several days in March due to unpaid bills.
“The entire executive board has stepped down and a three-man interim committee will be in charge until June 8, when a new president will be elected,” the statement said.
“This group worked in extremely difficult circumstances and we now appeal on the players to focus on winning their remaining games this season.
“Red Star owes money to its players, it has owed money before but it has never failed to settle any of its debts, meaning that this squad will also be paid in full in the foreseeable future.”
The crisis has not been helped by a very poor season in which champions and city rivals Partizan opened up a huge gap at the top of the 12-team league and retained the title last weekend with five games to spare.
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