Vidic Waits Three Weeks for Police Threat Review
Lawyer Predrag Vasovic says the Interior Ministry has ignored a three-week-old request to assess Nemanja Vidic's safety, filed after Slavisa Kokeza's Sky messages called for an attack on him.
Former footballer Nemanja Vidic has been waiting three weeks for Serbia’s Interior Ministry to respond to a request for an assessment of his personal safety, his lawyer Predrag Vasovic confirmed to the Nova portal. The request was filed on September 2, 2026, after the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) published Sky ECC messages in late June in which former Football Association of Serbia (FSS) president Slavisa Kokeza asked for Vidic to be physically attacked. Nova and KRIK reported on the ministry’s three-week silence on September 23 and 24.
According to KRIK, the network published the correspondence on June 30, 2026, showing that Kokeza, while heading the FSS, had asked for help going after Vidic as far back as 2020, out of fear that the former Serbia national team captain could remove him from the top of the federation. The messages also named footballers Danko Lazovic and Nemanja Matic, whom Kokeza saw as threats to his position at the time.
What Vidic Did After KRIK’s Revelation
Vidic filed a criminal complaint against Kokeza for endangering safety, and on August 17, 2026, gave a statement to the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. Vasovic laid out the circumstances of that statement.
“Nemanja Vidic gave a statement to the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime on August 17, in connection with the criminal complaint filed over what the KRIK network uncovered and published on June 30, 2026,” Vasovic told Nova.rs.
The lawyer said Vidic also raised concerns for the safety of his family members during that meeting, which is why a request for a security threat assessment was sent to the Interior Ministry on September 2. According to Vasovic, the same request was forwarded that day to the office of the minister in charge.
By September 23 and 24, when Nova and KRIK published their reports on the case, the Interior Ministry had not responded. Vasovic did not mince words about it.
“Given that three weeks have passed since our request, it’s clear there is no willingness to provide Mr. Vidic with adequate support,” the lawyer said.
Kokeza’s Conflict With the President’s Brother
The published messages indicate Kokeza sought contact with criminal circles to intimidate or physically attack Vidic, at a time when he feared the footballer’s public standing could speed up his removal from the FSS. In one message he wrote:
“Right now what I really need most is help to eliminate Vidic, (Danko) Lazovic and (Nemanja) Matic,” Kokeza wrote to a contact on Sky ECC in 2020.
According to KRIK, the messages also show Kokeza was at odds with Andrej Vucic, the brother of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Kokeza sought support from fans, calculating, as he wrote himself, that the president was afraid only of the stands, in order to avoid being removed as head of the football federation.
Kokeza withdrew from public view after the messages were published. His current whereabouts have not been confirmed. Both the United States and Republika Srpska have been mentioned publicly, without official confirmation of either.
Our newsroom has not previously reported on this case. Until the Interior Ministry responds to the request filed three weeks ago, it remains an open question whether the institution will act before Vasovic announces further legal steps.
