A mass resignation has thrown Serbian water polo into turmoil, with the national men's team's head coach and eleven players withdrawing from the squad in protest at comments made by the newly appointed president of the Water Polo Federation of Serbia. The crisis engulfs what is arguably the world's most successful water polo programme: Serbia are the reigning Olympic champions — having claimed gold at Paris 2024 — and won the European Championship in Belgrade in January 2026, making it three consecutive Olympic titles.
The dispute centres on Slobodan Soro, a former goalkeeper who was elected federation president on 29 April. Speaking to Serbia's public broadcaster RTS shortly after his election, Soro said the national team was "not at the same level as in previous years" and described the Olympic and European gold medals as "more a matter of temporary inspiration than proof of great quality". The remarks drew immediate condemnation from within the sport. Head coach Uros Stevanovic resigned on Monday, saying Soro had used "language unbecoming of the current Olympic and European champions" and aimed at the "qualitative and professional discrediting" of the team. Days later, eleven players — including prominent names such as Dusan Mandic and Nikola Jaksic — published an open letter announcing their withdrawal. "Our gold medals were by no means the result of momentary inspiration," they wrote, "but rather years of great sacrifice, training, unity, and struggle."
The players said they would remain unavailable for selection "as long as Slobodan Soro and his team remain at the helm" of the federation. They also alleged that some squad members had been poorly treated by Soro and associates connected to the Novi Beograd water polo club, a Belgrade-based outfit whose founding is linked to Aleksandar Sapic, the city's mayor. Soro previously served as director of that club and is reported to have had Sapic's backing for the federation presidency, adding a political dimension to what the federation itself insists is a purely administrative matter.
The federation, which published the players' open letter on its own website, pushed back against that framing, describing the situation as "a purely political confrontation and an abuse of sport for political purposes" and saying "someone is trying to achieve their political goals through water polo". It also noted that the letter was signed by seven former and four current national team players — a distinction seemingly intended to limit the crisis's immediate sporting impact. Soro himself has not publicly responded to the players' letter.
The fallout comes at a difficult moment: Serbia failed to qualify for the Water Polo World Cup finals scheduled for July in Sydney, Australia — a rare setback that had already raised questions about the team's trajectory. With the federation and its champions now in open conflict, and no resolution in sight, the future of one of Serbia's most decorated sporting programmes remains uncertain.