27 January 2024

By Göran R Buckhorn

As of 1 January 2024, the Serbian Rowing Federation is no longer a member of World Rowing. The global governing body for the sport of rowing decided to suspend the Serbian Rowing Federation due to “significant financial debts being owed to World Rowing and various event suppliers”.

This drastic action was taken by the World Rowing Executive Committee in a meeting on 14 December last year and went into effect on 1 January 2024.

Article 15 of the World Rowing Bye-Laws states that:

Member Federations that have subscriptions in arrears or that have unresolved debts to World Rowing or to an organising committee of a World Rowing event may be suspended by the Executive Committee or expelled by Congress. In any event, no member of that federation may stand for elections, their delegates shall forfeit their voting rights, and the Executive Committee may ban or suspend the federation’s teams, officials, umpires and Commission members from competitive and other World Rowing events.

World Rowing’s suspension implies:

1. Inability of the Serbian Rowing Federation to participate in the governance of the sport of Rowing in Serbia and internationally.
2. Inability of the Serbian Rowing Federation to enter athletes into World Rowing events and Olympic / Paralympic Games.
3. Inability of Serbia to host any future World Rowing events.

In an article in October 2023, HTBS reported that World Rowing, European Rowing and the Serbian Rowing Federation had jointly agreed on a postponement of the 2025 European Championships, which were to be held in Belgrade. In an October announcement, World Rowing wrote that due to parliamentary and local elections planned in Serbia at the end of 2023 – elections for the Serbian parliament, the Mayor of Belgrade and the Belgrade Assembly – there was “the risk of a delay in the funding and establishment of a Local Organizing Committee for the 2025 European Rowing Championships.”

It seems now that there were larger financial problems rather than “a delay in the funding”.

Sadly, paying for this debacle of the Serbian Rowing Federation will be the Serbian rowers, who now will miss out on competing at international regattas, including this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic rowing.

The World Rowing Executive Committee hopes that the Serbian Rowing Federation will be able to clear its financial debts. After a settlement has been reached, the World Rowing Executive Committee will discuss the possibility to reinstate the Serbian Rowing Federation into the World Rowing family.

However, as the situation is now, legal proceedings against the Serbian Rowing Federation and official guarantors are being launched.