Radnički 1923 coach Žižović dies after heart attack during match

Radnički 1923 coach Mladen Žižović, 44, collapsed and later died after suffering a suspected heart attack during his team’s Serbian SuperLiga match against Mladost Lučani on Sunday evening in Lučani, officials and club statements said. Žižović went down near the Radnički bench 22 minutes into the game; emergency medical staff treated him pitchside before he was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the club said.

The referee initially suspended the match while medical teams attended to Žižović and after he was transported to hospital play briefly resumed. Around 20 minutes later, players and staff were informed that Žižović had died while en route to the hospital. The remainder of the match was abandoned amid visible distress on the pitch; players and coaches from both teams were seen weeping as the referee walked off.

Žižović had been appointed Radnički 1923 head coach on October 23 and Sunday’s fixture was his third in charge. Born on December 27, 1980, in Rogatica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, he had a lengthy playing career in Bosnia and Albania and made appearances for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. As a player he won the Bosnian Cup...