Ivan Ćurković (, ; born 15 March 1944) is a Serbian sports executive and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. During his playing career that spanned 21 seasons from 1960 to 1981, Ćurković made over 700 official appearances for three clubs in Yugoslavia and France, winning numerous trophies and reaching the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

final on two occasions, with Partizan in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. He was also capped 19 times by

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 ...

at senior level between 1963 and 1970. After hanging up his boots, Ćurković held various high-level administrative positions, including serving as president of the Serbian Olympic Committee and vice-president of the Serbian Football Association. He also acted as president of his former club Partizan for almost two decades from 1989 to 2006.

Club career

A talented goalie, Ćurković began at his hometown club Velež Mostar and was officially registered by the club in 1958. He would sign his first professional contract in 1960 at the age of 16. During the

1960–61 Yugoslav First League The 1960–61 Yugoslav First League season was won by FK Partizan, which was the club's third title and its first in twelve years. The season was also a coming-out party of sorts for the club's talented new generation of young players known as "Par ...

, his first senior season, Ćurković played 13 (out of 22) games and helped the team narrowly avoid relegation from the top flight. He spent three more seasons with the ''Rođeni'', leading them to a fourth-place finish in 1962–63. In 1964, Ćurković was transferred to Partizan. He would become the first-choice goalkeeper in his debut season after

Milutin Šoškić Milutin Šoškić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Шошкић; 31 December 1937 – 27 August 2022) was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is considered one of FK Partizan's greatest players. Biography He was ...

joined the army to complete his compulsory military service, helping the club win the championship. During the next season in 1965–66, Ćurković served as a backup to Šoškić through their

campaign that year, as Partizan lost in the final to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. He spent a total of eight seasons with the ''Crno-beli'', making 227 appearances across all competitions. In 1972, Ćurković moved abroad to France and signed with

. He immediately established himself as the starting goalkeeper and played nine seasons with ''Les Verts'', winning four domestic championship titles ( 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, and 1980–81), three national cups ( 1973–74, 1974–75, and 1976–77), and reaching the European Cup final in 1975–76.

International career

At international level, Ćurković played 19 matches for

between 1963 and 1970. He participated at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo.

Post-playing career

Between 1989 and 2006, Ćurković served as president of his former club Partizan, establishing a long-lasting partnership with general secretary

Žarko Zečević Žarko Zečević ( sr-Cyrl, Жарко Зечевић; born 19 January 1950) is a Serbian retired basketball player, former football administrator, and current businessman. Known by his widely used nickname Zeka, he is most notable as the contr ...

and sporting director

Nenad Bjeković Nenad Bjeković (, ; born 5 November 1947) is a Serbian football administrator and former player and manager. Club career Born in Lazarevo, a village near Zrenjanin, Bjeković started out at his local club Zadrugar Lazarevo, before switching t ...

. In May 2001, Ćurković was appointed by the Football Association of FR Yugoslavia as co-manager of the FR Yugoslavia national team alongside

Vujadin Boškov Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia nation ...

and

Dejan Savićević Dejan Savićević ( cyrl, Дејан Савићевић, ; born 15 September 1966) is a Montenegrin former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Since 2001, he has been the president of the Football ...

, replacing

Milovan Đorić Milovan Đorić (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Милован Ђорић; born 6 August 1945) is a Serbian association football, football manager and former player. He is often referred to by his nickname Bata Đora. Đorić last ...

after poor results at the start of the

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

. In July 2005, Ćurković was appointed as acting president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia and Montenegro, replacing Philip Zepter. He officially became president on 8 March 2006. Following the split between the two nations, Ćurković served as president of the

Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia (, sr-Cyrl, Олимпијски комитет Србије) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's participation at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. The ...

until February 2009. On 23 December 2009, Ćurković was named vice-president of the

Football Association of Serbia The Football Association of Serbia () is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia national football team, as well as the Second Leagues. FSS was ...

during the presidential term of Tomislav Karadžić.

Personal life

Born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

(present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

), Ćurković identifies as a Herzegovinian Croat and a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1982, Ćurković was granted French citizenship by a decree of President

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

. He was also a recipient of France's

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

during a ceremony held in Belgrade on 5 October 2005, in which his former Saint-Étienne teammate

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

presented him the award.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

: 1964–65 *

runner-up: 1965–66 Saint-Étienne *

French Division 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de Football Professio ...

: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77 *

runner-up: 1975–76 Individual *

Onze Mondial ''Onze Mondial'' is a French language quarterly football magazine published in Paris, France. History and profile The magazine was established with name ''Onze'' in 1976. In 1989 the magazine merged with another sports magazine, ''Mondial'', an ...

: 1976 Orders *

Knight of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

: 2005

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curkovic, Ivan 1944 births Living people Footballers from Mostar Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslav men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1971 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in football FK Velež Mostar players FK Partizan players AS Saint-Étienne players Yugoslav First League players Ligue 1 players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Serbia and Montenegro football managers Serbia and Montenegro national football team managers Serbian sports executives and administrators FK Partizan presidents Recipients of the Legion of Honour