Nebojša Čović
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Nebojša Čović ( sr-Cyrl, Небојша Човић; 2 July 1958) is a Serbian businessman,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...
, and politician. Since 2011, he has been serving as the president of Crvena zvezda mts Belgrade.


Early years and education

Čović was born in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
,
PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Fla ...
,
FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
, and graduated from the
University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...
's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. In 2000, he obtained his PhD at the same university.


Political career

In 1992, as a member of the
Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалистичка партија Србије, Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Ivica Dačić. It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to t ...
(SPS), 34-year-old Čović started his climb up the political ladder with a position of executive board vice-president in charge of economy and finances at the Belgrade city assembly. A year later, in 1993, he advanced to the position of the city government president. In 1994 he got elected as the
Mayor of Belgrade The Mayor of Belgrade ( sr, Градоначелник Београда / ''Gradonačelnik Beograda'') is the head of the City of Belgrade (the capital and largest city of Serbia). The Mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive ...
. In parallel, Čović was the SPS
deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...
( MP) in the Serbian National Assembly. Čović was sacked from the mayoral post in mid-January 1997 by the Serbian president and SPS party leader
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
amid the months-long protests in Serbia over the November 1996 municipal elections fraud. He was expelled from SPS on the same occasion. He became the president of Democratic Alternative (DA) after the party got formed by a certain number of SPS members seceded from SPS in July 1997. Čović served as the head of the Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija and as the head of the Southern Serbia Coordination Center during Preševo Valley conflict (1999–2001). From 24 October 2000 to 25 January 2001 he was a member of the trio Co-Prime Ministers together with Milomir Minić from SPS and Spasoje Krunić from the
Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement ( sr-cyrl, Српски покрет обнове, Srpski pokret obnove, SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. History The Serbian Renewal Movement party was founded in 1990 through the merge ...
(SPO) that transitionally governed Serbia after the
Bulldozer Revolution A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...
, when
Mirko Marjanović Mirko Marjanović ( sr-cyrl, Мирко Марјановић, ; 27 July 1937 – 21 February 2006) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 1994 to 2000. Biography Marjanović was born on 27 July 1937 in Knin in ...
was sacked. After the
assassination of Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić, the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, was assassinated on Wednesday 12 March 2003, in Belgrade, Serbia. Đinđić was fatally shot by a sniper while exiting his vehicle outside of the back entrance of the Serbia ...
, he was the acting Prime Minister of Serbia from 12 to 16 March 2003. In 2004, his party Democratic Alternative merged into the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...
(SDP). In 2005, he became president of the Social Democratic Party. The party ceased to exist in 2010. He was charged with corruption in January 2016.


Sports administration career


FMP Železnik (1991–2011)

In 1991, Čović became involved with Serbian basketball club KK ILR Železnik, a dormant sports collective for workers of the state-owned Ivo Lola Ribar metallurgical factory. Inactive since 1986, the club got revived by Čović under the auspices of his privately-owned metal products factory Fabrika metalnih proizvoda AD and renamed FMP Železnik. Under his guidance and ownership, the club grew into one of the top teams in Serbia and
FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...
, developing a reputation for player development and quality work with younger categories. By 1993, the club got its own basketball facility – the 2,000-seat
Železnik Hall Železnik Hall ( sr, Дворана Железник, Dvorana Železnik) is a basketball arena in Belgrade, Serbia. The arena is currently used as a home arena to the KK FMP Beograd of the Basketball League of Serbia and the Adriatic League. The ...
that served as its home arena form then on. Climbing rapidly up the FR Yugoslavia basketball pyramid, FMP began the 1994–95 season in the Second Federal League, winning promotion to the country's top basketball competition for the following 1995–96 season. In 1998, Čović brought former Yugoslav national team player
Ratko Radovanović Ratko "Raša" Radovanović (; born 16 October 1956) is a Serbian former professional basketball player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia, at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Early life Born in the town of Nevesinje within ...
on board as the club's sporting director. Radovanović soon became synonymous with the emerging club, making player personnel decisions and running its day-to-day operations. Čović's son
Filip Filip () is a masculine given name and a surname, cognate to Philip. In Croatia, the name Filip was among the most common masculine given names in the 2000s. Notable people with the name include: ; Given name * Filip Barović (born 1990), Monten ...
later played as
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
for the club.


Yugoslav Basketball Federation (1995–1997)

In late 1995, while simultaneously performing the city of Belgrade mayoral job as well as Serbian National Assembly MP duties, Čović became president of the
Yugoslav Basketball Federation The Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Košarkaški savez Jugoslavije, Кошаркашки савез Југославије; sl, Košarkarska zveza Jugoslavije; mk, Кошаркарска федерација на Југосл ...
(KSJ), succeeding Veselin Barović. In addition to Čović's political connections through the SPS, the rapid success of his club FMP Železnik that was about to start competing in the country's top league that season after multiple promotions was the best possible recommendation for the job. At the time when Čović came on board to lead the federation, FR Yugoslavia national team led by Duda Ivković were the reigning European champions, having returned to international competition following a four-year exile due to the UN embargo. Ivković soon stepped down and his assistant
Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Partizan of the ABA League, the Basketba ...
took over the national team head coaching job. The national team had a great run at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, reaching the final against the American Dream Team composed of NBA players. In early 1997, soon after Čović's fall from grace in SPS, he was removed from the KSJ job as well.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Covic, Nebojsa 1958 births Living people Businesspeople from Belgrade Socialist Party of Serbia politicians Democratic Alternative (Serbia) politicians Social Democratic Party (Serbia 2001–2010) politicians KK Crvena Zvezda executives Mayors of Belgrade Serbian basketball executives and administrators University of Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering alumni