Dušan Maravić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Душан Маравић; 7 March 1939 – 6 January 2025) was a Serbian footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He represented the SFR Yugoslavia national team internationally and was part of the Yugoslav squad that won gold at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Early life

Maravić was born in France, as his father was working in Injoux-Génissiat, a small village close to Swiss border. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

his family moved back to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, settling in Bajmok, a village close to

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

Playing career

His first football steps were taken in local club Radnički Bajmok when Maravić was six years old. Ten years later he joined the more famous Spartak Subotica. In 1958, aged 19 he became a member of

n giants Red Star Belgrade. In six years with Red Star, Maravić appeared in 232 official matches, scoring 82 goals. Maravić was also member of SFR Yugoslavia national team playing in seven occasions, and scored three goals. Thanks to being member of gold Olympic medal squad, he was allowed to go abroad before national propositions limit of 28. Hence, he became a member of

Racing Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French Association football, football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of ...

aged 25. He played for "The Penguins" until 1969 when he shortly moved to

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

, and then proceeded to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n Deportivo Italia. He played with this italo-venezuelan team until 1974, winning the Venezuelan championship in 1972 Interview with Dušan Maravić
English translation

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Maravić spent some time coaching and also working in national football union administration, which led him to become an employee of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as an international instructor and delegate. He was nominated to run for

president.

Personal life and death

Maravić was fluent in French, English, Spanish and Italian. Simultaneously with his sporting career, Maravić had pursued studies, finishing University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics. He had sons Antoni and Alfredo, the latter works as a sports agent. Maravić died on 6 January 2025, at the age of 85.È morta la leggenda della Stella Rossa Dušan Maravić

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maravic, Dusan 1939 births 2025 deaths French people of Serbian descent French men's footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Footballers from Ain Footballers from Subotica Men's association football midfielders Yugoslavia men's international footballers Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Yugoslav First League players Ligue 2 players FK Spartak Subotica players Red Star Belgrade footballers Racing Club de France Football players Entente Bagneaux-Fontainebleau-Nemours players AS Béziers Hérault (football) players Deportivo Italia players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics alumni FIFA officials 20th-century French sportsmen