Revoke the decision you made and return the coat of arms to Dečić, a symbol of Tuzla, was the message from the protest rally to the club's leadership and the Municipal Assembly.
A group of enthusiasts, former football players and sports workers, fans of Dečić, gathered today in Tuzi to show their dissatisfaction with the change in the football club's coat of arms.
Member of the initiative committee, Zejnel Muminović, especially thanked the support of former football players and club legends, who, as he said, wrote pages of history while playing for Dečić.
"I have a message, or rather a request, to the Tuzi Municipal Assembly and the club's management - cancel the decision you made, return the coat of arms that belongs to us, return the historical coat of arms to us, return the symbol of the place to us. What our ancestors created, history and tradition, what is in our hearts, there is no alternative," said Muminović.
He said that he would not stop and that today's rally was just the beginning of the fight.
"We, Tuzi, have slept for a long time, may our awakening be blessed with happiness. Unfurl the flags, our common colors. Albanians, Bosniaks, Montenegrins and Serbs, Christians and Muslims, all together for the coat of arms. For the blue and white colors. That is FK Dečić, that is Tuzi and Montenegro," said Muminović.
Former Decic captain Demir Ramovic, who wore the club's jersey for 11 years, believes that the new emblem will last as long as his speech - just a few minutes.
"I have a great responsibility, but also a privilege, to appear on stage because I know how much you love and what this club, its emblem and blue and white colors mean to you. I know, I felt that during the 11 years I was at the club. You accepted me as one of your own, I felt at home. Don't touch our emblem, we gathered because what we see hurts us. They are trying to take away from us what cannot be anyone's private property," said Ramović.
He pointed out that Dečić did not come into being overnight and that the coat of arms and blue and white colors were not invented yesterday.
"It's 99 years of struggle, pride and love, respect that. The coat of arms is not just an ordinary sign, it's a sign that generations before us played for. It's the shield under which the Tuzi breathed, and we cried after defeats and celebrated after victories. That coat of arms and those colors taught us what it means to be loyal and to be ourselves," said Ramović.
He said that the new management can run the club, but it has no right to erase almost a century of history.
"Without respect for tradition, there is no future. The coat of arms is not touched, Dečić is not bought, but loved. We will not stop until the coat of arms and colors are returned," said Ramović.
Civic activist Dževdet Pepić said that all those who grew up under "the mountain, not the Dečić hill", have two great sacred things - Tuzi Municipality Day, December 15th, and FK Dečić.
He recalled that the current government, after taking over the municipality, changed the municipality's day to September 1st by vote of the councilors.
"I knew it was the beginning, but I couldn't believe that a club that has been around for almost a century would have to change its coat of arms. The coat of arms, for which we all played, was not just Tuzi and Tuzana, but of all of Montenegro," said Pepić.
He emphasized that Dečić belongs to all of them and should not belong to anyone in particular.
"Who is interfering with the tradition of all of us? What is the main obstacle, is it a five-pointed star, does the symbol of anti-fascism bother them? Do they want to show that they are greater Albanians than us? We have red blood cells, and someone wants to have red and black ones," said Pepić.
He ordered them to leave Dečić alone.
"If you have money and power, form a new club and give it whatever colors you want. Dečić is neither a Montenegrin, nor an Albanian, nor a Croatian, nor a Bosniak club, but a club of all of us who love it," said Pepić.
Support for the initiative committee was sent not only by former Dečić football players, but also by numerous athletes and Montenegrin national team members, medal winners from the world's largest competitions.
Support also came from one of the legends of Montenegrin football, a man who was born in Tuzi and who took his first football steps in Dečić - Refik Šabanadžović.
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