The 53-year old with a Masters in Economics was the convincing winner in Thursday’s vote in Brdo pri Kranju. He beat his opponent Matjaž Nemec getting 23 of the 30 delegate votes. Unofficially Nemec received votes from the association which nominated him, MNZ Nova Gorica (2 votes), as well as from MNZ Koper (2) and MNZ Celje (3). The rest of the votes went to Mijatović, who had the backing of 14 delegates even prior to the election.
"From the beginning until the end I never attacked anyone in my campaign. Many things happened which were not alright. We will have to assess the damage that has been done to football, but in general I think the damage is not that great. Football in Slovenia is currently at a level which is valued. We have to maintain and build on that," said Mijatović.
Refereeing matches one thing, private businesses another
Prior to the election the former NZS vice-president faced accusations of being part of a referee lobby, which was reportedly trying to take over the football association. Nemec questioned the ethics and moral standards of some referees which also have companies for lending money with high interest rates.
"The Slovenian Football Association and its referee organization are among the most respected in Europe. The fact that we have three Slovenian referees in the Champions League points to very good long-term work with referees and a good education process. Refereeing in Slovenia is good. We have to separate private businesses from the association of football referees. Refereeing matches, educating referees, naming referees and control officers for matches is completely different from one’s own private businesses," are the thoughts of Mijatović.
The host of Odmevi, Tanja Gobec, also asked Mijatović to give his opinion about the forming a regional football league, for which there has been much talk in recent days. "The matter isn’t mature yet, it still isn’t the right time for it. Look at all the events that have happened in the region, I’m talking about the wars which did not take place that long ago. We see that even in local derbies in certain countries it’s sometimes hard to ensure adequate security measures. A think a regional league is not realistic in the near future," concluded the new head of the Slovenian Football Association.