The football club Budućnost celebrated its 100th anniversary, a ceremonial academy was held on Thursday evening on the main square in Podgorica - a cultural and artistic program was seen with the presence of numerous great players who celebrated the blue and white colors.
And are those numerous great football players - without whom Buducnost would not be what it is - properly respected?
It seems they are not - or rather some of them are not happy with what the anniversary celebration has turned into.
Niša Saveljić, a native of Titograd and a guy who started his career in the late eighties in a blue and white jersey before going on to play 32 games for the Yugoslav national team through Partizan, is disappointed with the way the organizers - in this case FK Budućnost and the Municipality of Podgorica - treated the former aces.
"It looked like a political rally to me. I received an invitation from the club as a former Buducnost player, I came from the United States and France to attend, and the symbolism is that I was late to the academy with another former Buducnost player, Luka Rotković, due to a roadblock and, in my opinion, a completely justified strike by the people of Cetinje. In the front row at the ceremony were those who are being protested against today, and the legends were in the last rows. I'm not putting myself in the foreground, but I want to say that I'm proud to be part of Buducnost, which also includes people who weren't even mentioned at the ceremony. And there are many of them, they were skipped for various reasons," he told "Vijesti" Niš and began listing famous names:
"Tonko and Janko Miročević, Miodrag Grof Božović, Željko Petrović, Dragoje Leković, Saša Petrović, Miodrag Radulović, Slavko Vlahović, Šanjo Ljumović, Dragan Vujović, the Brnović brothers, Mišo Folić, Caco Ljumović, Anto Drobnjak, Željko Janović, Zoran Mijović, Danilo Karadžić, Momo Vujačić, Mojaš Radonjić... I would especially like to highlight Brano Milačić, who, together with Tonko and Šanjo Ljumović, contributed to the development of my career, as well as Gano Ćerić and Dimo Mitrović, and the coach who discovered me - Špaco Poklepović. None of them were mentioned," Niša pointed out.
The future is not what was seen on Thursday in Podgorica's Square, believes Saveljić.
"There weren't even loyal fans. The evening was saved by Dejan Savićević and the Makadam group, although I wonder if Genije would have been there if he hadn't been the president of the Football Association of Montenegro. I was left in shock, from a magical evening everything turned into an evening of plastic bottles, without a developed eco-consciousness. Nothing of the beautiful, green Podgorica. Also, I can't believe that the club and the city couldn't cover the costs of such an event, but a betting shop was the sponsor. I've never thought politically, but everyone needs to know that none of us is above Buducnost. We are its fans and part of the city of Titograd."
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Saveljić has not forgotten what a season Budućnost had.
"I congratulate her on her deserved and convincingly won title, I congratulate captain Petar Grbić."
Finally, he points out:
"I am honored to be a member of the "second tier", along with Tonko, Bran and the others," concluded Saveljić, who is co-owner of the French Martigues and the Santa Cruz Breakers from the USA.
Popović: Not a minimum of respect - not a single plaque, not a single word...
Vladimir Vanja Popović, another former Buducnost footballer, shared his dissatisfaction with the way the Podgorica club and the Municipality of Podgorica treated the legend of legends - Ante Miročević, via social media.
"In the first row - the president of the FSCG, vice presidents, ministers, VDT, singers, guests. And that's okay - there should be a protocol. But what's not okay is that the management of FK Budućnost and the Municipality of Podgorica did not show even a minimum of respect. Not a single thank-you note, not a single plaque, not a single word. And I'm sure - if many in the first row knew that Tonko was sitting behind them, they would stand up and give him their seat. Because Tonko asks for nothing, but deserves everything. Not because of the position. But because of what he has forever built into this club," Popović wrote on the social network X.
That Brano Milačić, the long-time coach of Buducnost, was not "respected" was revealed by his daughter Julija Milačić Petrović Njegoš, a well-known Serbian actress.
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