© EuroFootball.com
Serbian football officials announced on Tuesday that after the end of the World Cup they are ready to separate from Montenegro and participate in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers as a separate Serbian national team.
This week, the residents of Montenegro voted to secede from Serbia and declare independence, so the country's football federation must also split into two separate institutions. The World Cup will be the last tournament in which Serbia and Montenegro will play as one team.
"We were prepared for such events and have a great separation plan ready," said current Serbian and Montenegrin football federation president Tomislav Karadzic. "On July 28th, the football leaders of both countries will meet officially to discuss the final details, and from that day on the federation will split into two separate Serbian and Montenegrin football federations."
Once the federations separate, only Serbia will remain a member of FIFA and will have the right to play in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers. Meanwhile, Montenegrin footballers will have to wait for FIFA to recognize them as legitimate members and grant them the right to play in international tournaments.
"Serbia will maintain its FIFA membership and will play in the European Championship. Meanwhile, the Montenegrin football federation will need to submit an application to join FIFA and wait for it to be approved," Karadzic said.
Meanwhile, Montenegro's football leader Dejan Savicevic stated that until the country is officially declared a FIFA member, they will participate in various friendly tournaments and prepare for future battles. The team's goal is to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
In the current Serbian and Montenegrin national team, which will compete in the World Cup with only two players, goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric and forward Mirko Vucinic, are citizens of Montenegro.
However, both Jevric and longtime Serbian team forward Savo Milosevic are not happy about this split and say that it will not be easy for the players to go through all of this.
"I spoke to Jevric and he admitted that it is difficult for him to accept all of this, just like me," Milosevic said. "Nevertheless, we are professionals and understand that this had to happen."
"I supported the people of Montenegro in their fight for independence, but I did not expect everything to turn out like this."
The Serbian and Montenegrin team will start the World Cup in Germany in Group C, along with the Netherlands, Argentina, and Ivory Coast.
