Former Serbian football coach Ilija Petkovic dies

Former Serbia and Montenegro head coach Ilija Petkovic has died, allegedly from COVID-19, his former club Shanghai Shenhua confirmed on Sunday.

The club wrote on social media about the 74-year-old Serbian football coach: “We will cherish those amazing things you brought to us. RIP”.

Petkovic was hospitalized for fever and duodenum ulcer and later found to have contracted the COVID-19 in the hospital, a report from news outlet Netease said.

He spent one year with Shanghai Shenhua in 2001, coaching them to second place in China’s top league.

Petkovic coached Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup finals, where his side failed to qualify for the knockout stage.

(Xinhua/NAN)