Season 1985–86 European Cup Red Star Top goalscorer Davor Čop (22) Champion FK Partizan | Champions Partizan Cup Winners' Cup Velež Start date 1985 Relegated OFK Beograd, FK Vojvodina | |
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The 1985–86 Yugoslav First League season was marked by scandal and controversy due to allegedly wide match-fixing during the last week of fixtures.
Contents
After the last week was played, FK Partizan was crowned champion due to better goal difference than second-placed Red Star Belgrade. However, after weeks of public pressure and huge public outcry, on 20 June 1986, the Yugoslav FA presidency headed by Slavko Šajber decided to impose extraordinary measures that included the following:
Each club agreed to play the replay except for Partizan. As a result their week 34 fixture was registered as a 3–0 defeat, and the club was thus stripped of the league title, which was now awarded to Red Star. Based on this decision, it was Red Star Belgrade who got to represent SFR Yugoslavia in the 1986–87 European Cup.
What followed on domestic front was a series of appeals and lawsuits and the entire case eventually went all the way to the Yugoslav Constitutional Court. By the time Yugoslav Constitutional Court delivered its final ruling to the Court of Joint Labour of SR Serbia on 29 July 1987, the next league season was already completed with FK Vardar winning the title due to 12 teams starting the season with -6 points.
The court's ruling was that there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the week 34 of the 1985–86 season and thus that season's title was given back to Partizan. That also meant that there was no merit for the 6-point docking in the 1986–87 and now that season's table was re-counted so that now Partizan became a new champion.
Still, Vardar got to represent SFR Yugoslavia in the 1987–88 European Cup.
League table
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Champions:
players (league matches/league goals):
Fahrudin Omerović (34/0) -goalkeeper-
Zvonko Varga (32/17)
Ljubomir Radanović (32/4)
Vladimir Vermezović (32/1)
Admir Smajić (30/2)
Slobodan Rojević (29/0)
Goran Stevanović (28/3)
Nebojša Vučićević (27/6)
Miloš Đelmaš (26/11)
Zvonko Živković (24/12)
Bajro Župić (24/0)
Milonja Đukić (23/1)
Vlado Čapljić (21/3)
Radoslav Nikodijević (17/0)
Miodrag Bajović (15/0)
Miodrag Radović (12/0)
Milinko Pantić (9/2)
Milorad Bajović (6/0)
Dragan Mance (5/2) died 3 September 1985 in a car accident
Goran Bogdanović (5/0)
Jovica Kolb (4/1)
Isa Sadriu (4/0)
Match-fixing controversy
As mentioned, week 34, the last week of 1985–86 Yugoslav First League season, featured some highly suspicious results. All the matches started at the same time on Sunday, 15 June 1986.
† results of matches suspected being fixed