Jovanovic Cursed Vukotic After Red Card in Surdulica

In the 34th minute of the match in Surdulica, Milan Vukotic threw his arm up toward the center circle, certain an opponent had pulled his shirt and that referee Srdjan Jovanovic had to blow the whistle. Instead of a foul, he got a caution. When he kept protesting, a second yellow followed, and he walked off toward the locker room with the card still in his hand, angry at the referee and at himself in equal measure.

That was only the first half of the story. The second surfaced a day later, on Sunday, September 20, when footage from TV Arena Sport showed that the referee had not stayed composed either. As Vukotic was leaving the pitch, Jovanovic, talking to his assistants, aimed a curse at him: “I’ll f**k your mouth, kid.”

The match between Radnik and Partizan, played on Saturday in Surdulica, already carried enough drama on its own, eight goals and a 4:4 draw that left neither bench indifferent. Vukotic’s sending off in the 34th minute, with the score at 1:1, left the black and whites playing roughly an hour with a man down, and they still managed to walk away with a point.

It all started innocently enough. Vukotic complained to Jovanovic that a Radnik player had pulled him in midfield and that he deserved a foul in his favor. The referee saw it differently, showed him a yellow card for his reaction, and when the argument continued, a second one followed, an automatic red. Up to that point, nothing suggested the referee would be remembered for this game more than the player he had sent off.

What came next changed the whole tone of the story. Cameras caught Jovanovic, as Vukotic was leaving the field, turning to his assistants and aiming that curse at the departing player. The clip quickly spread across social media and from there to sports outlets, where it drew more attention than the result of the match itself.

Srdjan Jovanovic is no ordinary figure in Serbian refereeing. He is an international referee and is considered the highest-ranked official in the country, which makes the curse weigh heavier than if it had come from someone lower down the ladder. Precisely because of that standing, the Football Association of Serbia is expected to respond quickly and clearly.

What the FSS rulebook says

Under the disciplinary rulebook of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS), unsporting conduct by match officials falls under Article 108, which provides for penalties of up to two years, and in some cases longer, for serious breaches of competition integrity. As of this writing, the federation’s disciplinary bodies have not announced an official decision, nor is it known whether the case will be opened under that article or a lighter one.

Reactions on social media came fast, well before any official word from the Football Association. Within hours the clip had made the rounds of Serbian sports outlets, and the public is now waiting to see whether an international referee, usually credited with the highest level of composure on the pitch, will be held to the same standard as any player. The match in Surdulica offered eight goals and swings of fortune until the final minute, but for now all of that has been pushed into the background.

Experience suggests the Football Association rarely punishes referees as harshly as it punishes players for similar outbursts, but footage of this kind is hard to ignore when it comes from the mouth of a man who officiates at the highest level. The next move belongs to the disciplinary commission, whose ruling on Jovanovic, and any penalty, is expected in the coming days, before the Super League draws up its next round.