The players at Red Star Belgrade, a European Cup winner in 1991, are struggling to pay for food and rent, the club’s coach Aleksandar Jankovic said.

Red Star is five points behind Serbian league leaders Partizan Belgrade and Jankovic has not buckled under fan pressure to resign. But he revealed that first team players have only received three minimum wage payments amounting to a total of about $780 pounds each since November. Red Star’s debts are estimated at in excess of $65 million pounds.

"The situation has never been as grave as it is at the moment and the players’ very existence is at stake here," Jankovic said. "The problems are mounting, there is no solution in sight and I don’t have a magic wand. I know this team has the potential to be much better but hungry players can’t perform and although I criticized them after a below-par display against Rad, the audience should know their situation."