SPORT / SPORTS
DO YOU AGREE THAT WE START WITH FOOTBALL? The biggest ever FIFA Club World Cup will take place in 2025, in the U.S., which you can reach by direct Air Serbia flight from Belgrade. The sport’s crème de la crème will gath- er “across the pond”, with 32 teams vying for the title of the best in the world from 15 th June to 13 th July. Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liv- erpool, Bayern Munich, Inter Mi- ami with Leo Messi, Brazilian giants Palmeiras and Flamengo, Saudi’s Al Hilal with a squad that includes Al- eksandar Mitrović and Sergej Milink- ović-Savić... The final will be played at the New York City Arena, which is just a ten-hour flight away from Bel- grade Nikola Tesla Airport. Prior to that, on 31 st May, we will crown the winner of the UEFA Cham- pions League, in one of the most foot- ball-mad cities: Munich. Our own Red Star is still competing with the giants of European football, and until the ref- eree blows the final whistle, we will continue to believe that we’ll watch our own Belgraders competing in the final at Allianz Arena. When it comes to Serbian sport, the central event of the coming year will be the European Basketball Cham- pionship, to be held from 27 th August to 14 th September. Serbia’s Eagles won silver at the World Cup in 2023, be- fore securing bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, so they’ll agree that the time has now come for EuroBasket gold?! The man who forged victory the last time our country secured the most val- uable medals, at the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, has decided to stay on. Coach Svetislav ‘Kari’ Pešić has accept- ed to take another flight with the Ea- gles, which means that the plane will also be boarded by Nikola Jokić, Bog- dan Bogdanović, Vasilije Micić and oth- er aces of Serbian and world basket- ball. The tournament will be held in Finland, Cyprus, Poland and Latvia. If you’re not sure where to head for your sports tourism holiday in early summer, we recommend the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket tourna- ment, which will take place from 18 th to 29 th June. Marina Maljković’s squad
Predstojeća 2025. godina biće važna i za Novaka Đokovića, koji se nalazi na prekretnici The year ahead will also be an important one for Novak Đoković, who is at a turning point oreperferci
members always fight like lionesses and supporting them is the least we can do. As with the men’s champion- ship, the tournament is being held in four cities in four different countries. Three are them – Bologna, Athens and Hamburg – can be reached di- rectly from Belgrade, while the fourth host city is Brno. Our Olympic wa- ter polo champions are also await- ed in 2025 by the sport’s world cup, to be held in Singapore from 11 th to 24 th July, so that’s a good option if you’re a fan of exotic destinations… Another destination that’s no less exciting and appealing in 2025 is Thailand, which will host the wom- en's volleyball world championship from 22 nd August to 7 th September. Serbia Captain Maja Ognjenović has retired from the national squad, but we still have a powerful team led by the best player in the world, Tijana Bošković. Men’s volleyball players will also vie for the world title in 2025, in the Philippines from 12 th to 28 th September. The world’s most loyal fans fol- low the sport of Formula 1, which is a sport that guarantees good fun. The 2025 calendar kicks off in Mel- bourne (14 th -16 th March) and culmi- nates in Abu Dhabi (5 th -7 th Decem- ber). Nine months of driving with
the pedal to the metal, we would sin- gle out the races in Shanghai, Bar- celona and Budapest, where we can take you on direct flights from Bel- grade. The MotoGP world champi- onship will be no less exciting. It will include a whopping 22 races – from Thailand (28 th February) all the way to Valencia, where the fastest man on two wheels will be crowned on 16 th November. The year ahead will also be an important one for Novak Đoković, who is at a turning point in his career. He ended 2024 without an ATP tro- phy, but he did add to his rich treas- ure trove with Olympic gold. He won the Holy Grail, then took a break to contemplate. He plans to compete in major tournaments in 2025, and there are none bigger than the Aus- tralian Open (from 12 th to 26 th Jan- uary), French Open (from 25 th May to 8 th June), Wimbledon (from 30 th June to 13 th July) and the U.S. Open (from 25 th August to 7 th September). We can deliver you directly to three of these destinations, with flights from Belgrade to Paris, London and New York. The same awaits you for the ATP Masters tournaments in Par- is, Shanghai, Madrid, Monte Car- lo (flight to Nice), Rome etc. Let’s go, Nole!
108 | Sport » Sports
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator