The Football Association of Republika Srpska (Serbian: Фудбалски савез Републике Српске, ФСРС / Fudbalski savez Republike Srpske, FSRS) is the official football association of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It organizes the national cup, the domestic league which forms one of the two second-tier divisions below the national top division. The FSRS also has a national team that represents Republika Srpska in only friendly matches. The association was founded in 1992 and supervises over 300 football clubs throughout Republika Srpska, that includes a staff of 600 coaches, and a referee association with 1,200 members.
The association also has a youth system, with financial support to youth teams and building new football schools. Its structure is identical with other national football associations, but currently acts as a subdivision within Bosnia and Herzegovina's FA.
History
It was formed on September 5, 1992 by the government of Republika Srpska, one of the two political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main goal of the FSRS was to be recognized internationally as an independent association, with their clubs being able to compete in the First League of FR Yugoslavia. After the failure to join the newly formed Yugoslav League (consisting of clubs from Serbia and Montenegro), the association continued to boycott Bosnia's League and planned that it would be able to compete in international competitions as an independent association in the future. A separate league system, the First League of the Republika Srpska, was established in 1995, where all Republika Srpska-based first level clubs competed.
The Republic of Srpska national team played their first official match at the City Stadium in Banja Luka on December 20, 1992, when the rival to the Srpska team was the national team of the Republic of Srpska Krajina. This match ended without the winner, with 1:1.The Republic of Srpska scored the first goal in the 16th minute thanks to Nešković and the final 1:1 were scored in the 45th minute by Žorić. Tihomir Žorić, then playing for Dinara from Knin, was chosen the best player of this friendly match. This historical match of the Srpska team drew a lot of attention, and in spite of the ongoing war, there were about 2,000 spectators at the FC Borac stadium.
REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA - REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA KRAJINA 1:1 (1:1)
Scorers: 1:0 Nešković (16), 1:1 Žorić (45).
Stadium: City Stadium in Banja Luka, attendance: 2.000, referees: Ilija Gigović (Gradiška), Slobodan Micev and Ranko Dragičević from Banja Luka.
THE BEST PLAYER: Tihomir Žorić (Republika Srpska Krajina).
REPUBLIC SRPSKA: Čobanović, Malbašić, Miladinović, Lukić, Sredojević, Janjetović, Tonković, Nešković, Jagodić, Zdjelar and Trivan.
Reserves: Marković, Gračanin, Vranješ, Ališić, Vojkić, Šobot, Salamić, Lukić, Kukavica, Pajić, Marić, Šarac and Gluhović.
REPUBLIC SRPSKA KRAJINA: Lj. Vučković, M. Vučković, Bogunović, Vukasin, Tica, Vrcelj, Žarković, Božić, Pribićević, Njegić, Žorić.
Reserves: Nedinić, Bjelivuk, Tatić, Božić, Dragišić, Šorgić, Botić, Cugalj.
After the conflict in Bosnia ended, the Bosnian league was split into three ethnically-based sections. The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, NSBiH, created to represent all three organisations, was recognised by the world football governing body FIFA in 1996 and UEFA in 1998. As the Bosniak football federation was the only one to join, its clubs alone were allowed to compete internationally and contest the newly formed Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Bosnian Croat association, Herceg-Bosna Football Federation, joined up with the NSBiH to form the Football Association of The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 2000 but the RS league continued to press for separate international recognition. On May 23, 2002 the FSRS finally joined the NSBiH as well, resulting in a league with teams from the entire country. The previous RS First League became a second level competition. The former RS Football federation vice president Slobodan Tešić said that "Its in the interest of us all, including our teams," stressing that the Bosnian Serbs teams had suffered the most during the years of division due to limited competition. In a joint statement, UEFA and FIFA hailed the move as being "for the good of football in Bosnia-Herzegovina and, in particular, for the development of football in Republika Srpska".
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