Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Marin Brbic Resigns as Hajduk President

July 14, 2020 - Marin Brbic has resigned from the President of the Management Board of Hajduk, the club announced on its official website.

"I am resigning from the position of President of the Management Board of HNK Hajduk. It is my moral obligation because we failed to achieve the promised result this season, and that is the place that leads to the qualifications for the Champions League," said Brbic, adding:

"I will not leave the club immediately, but when the conditions for that are met, because out of responsibility towards Hajduk, I must not and do not want to allow them to run without their heads, keeping in mind the importance of maintaining business stability and the functioning of the Club."

The Supervisory Board may or may not accept Brbic's decision

Now, everything is decided by the members of the Hajduk Supervisory Board, who may or may not accept Brbic's resignation. 

Brbic's resignation does not come as a surprise, because at the beginning of the season, he announced that he would leave Hajduk if the club does not win at least second place in the current season, which leads to the qualifications for the Champions League next season.

If the Supervisory Board manages to persuade Brbic to stay, we won't know until next Sunday, when the Assembly of the club will be held, at which the City of Split and the association Nas Hajduk (which together control over 90% of ownership) will comment on the situation.

Since Hajduk was two points away from Osijek two rounds before the end of the championship, there will likely be no Champions League this time around.

Brbic began his second term as president of the Split club in early March 2019, when he succeeded Jasmin Huljaj.

Brbic's return at the time was a natural solution after the arrival of Benjamin Perasovic at the head of the Supervisory Board.

Brbic was first the President of the Hajduk Management Board in a challenging situation, when the club was saved from bankruptcy by selling young players and raising loans for which the city of Split was its guarantor.

After three years and nine months in office, his cooperation was terminated by a decision of the then Supervisory Board, which sought a step forward.

When Brbic first came to Hajduk, he was met with a debt of 105 million kuna. His closest associate at the time was Goran Vucevic, who put together a team of young players and later sold them in order for the club to survive.

He held the position of President from 2012 to 2016.

Source: Index.hr

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Monday, 16 December 2019

Hajduk Presents New Advisor to President Mario Stanic, Sports Director Ivan Kepcija

December 16, 2019 - Hajduk officially presented Mario Stanic and Ivan Kepcija as new members of the club at a press conference at Poljud on Monday. 

The club sent out a call to the media Monday morning that a press conference would begin at noon, without specifying the subject matter. In the meantime, we’ve learned that the Split club presented President Marin Brbic's new closest associates - namely, Mario Stanic and Ivan Kepcija. Stanic has been named President Brbic's new advisor on sports policy, and Kepcija the new sports director.

"With us is Mario Stanic, a celebrated international footballer, and Ivan Kepcija, a respected junior specialist. I see this combination as a long-term solution to our sports policy," said President Brbic.

"First of all, hello to everyone. I am happy to see you. I would also like to thank President Brbic and Hajduk for their confidence. This is a great honor; we come as professionals with a vision. Personally, I think Hajduk is at some kind of a turning point, which means that they will continue to monitor the football market or turn to themselves. I would rather not be a part of a Hajduk that follows fashion but creates it,” Stanic said.

"Hello everyone, it is a great privilege to be a part of a club like this. I hope that together with Mario, I will contribute to raising the quality in all segments of the club. As Mario said, I also do not like to talk much but to work and that the work of all of us will be judged,” said Kepcija.

Mario Stanic was born in Sarajevo on April 10, 1972, and is a celebrated Croatia national team member and bronze medalist at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Stanic started his football career at FC Zeljeznicar, and also played for Croatia Zagreb, Sporting Gijon, SL Benfica, Club Brugge, AC Parma and Chelsea.

He made 49 appearances for the Croatia national team, scoring seven goals, which includes Croatia's historic first goal at the World Cup.

Ivan Kepcija was born on May 9, 1982, in Pula and graduated with a BA in Economics from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb and Kinesiology at Saint Mary's College of California.

In the US, he worked as a football coach and technical director of the San Ramon Soccer Club. He started his coaching career in 2004 as a coach at the Jadran Youth School in Poreč. A year later, he went to the United States to study, where he stayed until 2014.

For three years, he was the Deputy Leader of the GNK Dinamo Academy, which he joined in 2014, and at the same time, he served as assistant coach to then-coach Ferdi Milin for the U-19 Croatia national team, which lasted two years.

From 2017 to 2018, Ivan Kepcija was the sports director of the Warsaw Legia. 

More info soon...

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page

Thursday, 2 May 2019

Hajduk and HNS Meet: Details Revealed

On Monday, Marijan Kustić, the executive director of HNS, met with representatives of Hajduk and the Split mayor in Zagreb. 

Monday, 2 May 2016

Marin Brbic:To This Day I Have No Idea Why Hajduk Board Replaced Me

TCN's exclusive interview with the former president of Hajduk.

Saturday, 2 April 2016

Mamić In Hajduk Meeting Was an April Fool’s Prank, But the Sacking of Hajduk’s President is Real

It was the day of big changes in Hajduk’s leadership, sackings and resignations were thrown around, leaving us thinking if it is real, or just a prank.

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Hajduk And Dinamo Play First Semi-final Cup Match, Tensions Are High

It's not unusual for controversial pre-match statements to appear before the Hajduk - Dinamo clash, but this time, they've gone too far

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