1929 Yugoslav Football Championship - Controversial End of The Championship

Controversial End of The Championship

The season featured a good deal of controversy as the team that finished the season in top spot was BSK, not Hajduk Split. However, because they were judged to have had an improperly registered player on their roster (Dušan Marković), BSK got ordered by the FA to replay their last two matches of the season: home match against SK Jugoslavija and the away match at Hajduk Split (both of which BSK originally won: 5-1 and 3-1, respectively). Furious with what they considered to be an unfair decision, BSK refused to re-play the matches. They didn't show up to replay their arch cross-town rivals SK Jugoslavija and the match was eventually registered 3-0 in Jugoslavija's favour. As for re-playing the second match at Hajduk, BSK originally also refused, but were eventually forced to travel to Split by the FA under a threat of heavy sanctions. Though re-gathered and put together in hasty fashion, BSK players still managed to beat Hajduk 2-1. However, it still wasn't enough for the title as Hajduk had more points due to BSK refusal to play Jugoslavija.

BSK appealed, launching a formal complaint with the FA (Jugoslovenski nogometni savez). Their appeal was scheduled to be heard during the next scheduled FA assembly that took place on March 24, 1929 at the FA headquarters in Zagreb. The initiative for the relocation of FA headquarters from Zagreb to Belgrade was also discussed at the same assembly, causing high tensions and incidents that even police had to intervene. The assembly was interrupted and stopped following the incident, which meant that BSK's appeal was not even discussed.