Sinisa Mihajlovic, Serie A and Serbian football favourite, dies aged 53

16-Dec-2022 15:17:28 | Guardian

Former player and manager diagnosed with leukaemia in 2019
Tributes paid from inside and outside football world

Sinisa Mihajlovic, a former star player in his native Serbia and then Italy, who became a popular coach in Serie A, has died three years after being diagnosed with leukaemia. He was 53.

Mihajlovic’s family announced on Friday that he died in a Rome hospital. The Serb had most recently coached Bologna for three and a half years, becoming a sentimental favourite of fans and players alike for his desire to remain on the job, even after his diagnosis in 2019, before he was sacked in September. Players sometimes gathered under Mihajlovic’s hospital window when the coach was receiving treatment.