Rajkovic FIFA Ban Reduced
RAJKOVIC
By dixon9
November 26 2008
Chelsea youth defender Slobodan Rajkovic has had his 12 month FIFA ban from playing any domestic or International football reduced. FIFA ruled that whilst still being forbidden to take part in international competition he can now play domestic matches.
19 year old Rajkovic is currently on loan from Chelsea to Twente managed by Steve McClaren and was given the punishment after spitting at a referee during an Olympic football tournament.
Marcotti from The Times:
“Kudos to Fifa for using a bit of common sense. Spitting is disgusting and horrible and everything else. But to ban somebody from pursuing their livelihood for an entire year is simply excessive.”
“If the idea is that such an exemplary punishment would act as a deterrent to others, well, it was never going to work. Most people had never even heard of the guy, let alone knew that he was banned or why. If the idea is to stop him from offending again, then surely a three-month ban is more than sufficient.”
Rajkovic began playing football with OFK Beograd and broke into the first team at just 15 years of age and Chelsea signed him the following season for a then ₤3.8m world record fee for a youngster.
At 16 he was a regular in the Serbia national under-21 football team - the youngest player ever to appear in a qualifying match of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Rajkovic was loaned to PSV as part of the Alex deal. After this one year loan spell, the Dutch club wanted to extend the loan period for another year, but Chelsea decided to loan him to Twente who promised to give him more playing time.
Rajkovic´s loan to Twente finishes next summer.
Chelsea have agreed to allow Slobodan Rajkovic to spend another season on-loan at FC Twente.
“Slobodan Rajkovic will also be on loan with FC Twente for the coming year,” read a statement from the Dutch club.
“The Serbian defender is re-rented for another year from Chelsea.”
"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.