Church loses appeal to have Belgrade derby Postponed

15/4/2011

The Belgrade derby between Partizan and Red Star will go ahead on April 23 despite an appeal by the Serbian Orthodox Church to reschedule it for after the Easter holidays, a senior soccer official said Friday.

“It would have been possible if the two clubs had reached such an agreement but they haven’t and the tight schedule leaves no room for a postponement,” Serbian league commissioner Branislav Delic told Reuters by telephone on Friday.

“The match will go ahead as planned on Saturday April 23 because last-minute changes to the competition schedule, which was drawn up last July, are not possible” he said.

“The date is not an official religious holiday and hence organising the derby as planned should not offend anyone’s religious beliefs.”
With the fixture sandwiched between Easter Friday and Sunday, the Serbian Orthodox Church issued a statement earlier on Friday saying no football should be played on a day its “faithful children spend in prayers and tranquility.”

Many Partizan and Red star fans had earlier said on message boards the game should be played the following week and some of them have also threatened to boycott the derby.

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