Vidic withdraws FSS presidency bid

BELGRADE - Former Serbia football international Nemanja Vidic announced on Monday he had withdrawn his candidacy for Football Association of Serbia (FSS) president.

"Big challenges are ahead of our football. Many things must, and can, be better. My idea was, and is, to assemble a team of top-class professionals capable of tackling those challenges better than perhaps anyone in Europe. Unfortunately, at every step of my path to becoming FSS president, it was made clear to me that we will not be given that opportunity. I hereby wish to inform you that I am withdrawing my candidacy for FSS president," Vidic said in a written statement sent to Tanjug.

"The responsibility for tackling the big challenges that are ahead of us has been undertaken by the same group of people that has created them. I am definitely not optimistic about what they will do with the opportunity they have grabbed hold of, and I think that, in four years' time, things will be even more difficult than they are today," Vidic noted.

"The withdrawal of the candidacy does not mean I am giving up on Serbian football. I believe in my team and in our vision, as well as in the great assistance we will receive from our friends from the very top of European and world football. I believe that, in the near future, my team and I will do what is unfortunately impossible for us to start doing today. It is not possible at this time," Vidic added.

An FSS electoral assembly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, with Dragan Dzajic as the sole remaining candidate for the association's president.