Slovenian coach sacked for racist outburst

LJUBLJANA - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

Slovenian league leaders Olimpija Ljubljana sacked coach Marko Nikolic on April 18, a week after he reportedly called Nigerian forward Blessing Eleke a "black idiot".

"We have reached an agreement with Marko Nikolic for him to resign as coach... He is a good coach, a good man, but he made a mistake and had to pay for it," club chairman Milan Mandaric said in Ljubljana.
 
Slovenian media broadcast a video apparently showing Nikolic's outburst after Eleke's exuberant celebrations following a late equaliser against Zavrc left Olimpija little time to win the match.
 
Although Nikolic apologised to Eleke, the country's Football Association banned him last Thursday for the seven matches that remain of the season and fined him 1,500 euros ($1,300).
 
The 36-year-old Serb coach had joined Olimpija earlier this year after being sacked by Serbia's Partizan Belgrade in 2015.