It was with great sadness that the International Handball Federation has learned about the passing of Serbian handball legend Branislav Pokrajac (1947-2018).

 

Pokrajac, who started playing handball as a student at Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium, played for ORK Belgrade, HC Red Star and HC Dinamo at club level. With the national team he claimed bronze at the 1970 and 1974 World Championships in France and German Democratic Republic, respectively. In 1972 he made the dream of winning Olympic gold come true as he was part of the team which topped the podium at the Munich Olympic Games.

 

After he finished his career as a player, he continued as coach – and was equally successful. After claiming silver at the Germany 1982 World Championship, Yugoslavia won gold at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 under his guidance. He collected more international experience as coach of Spain, USA and Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s before he returned to Yugoslavia which he led to bronze at the 2001 World Championship in France.

 

Pokrajac coached several clubs in Yugoslavia, France and Portugal, finishing his career in 2012 at Sporting Lissabon.

 

With Branislav Pokrajac, the handball family loses a great figure and on behalf of the International Handball Federation, IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa would like to convey his deepest condolences to Pokrajac’s family and friends and the Serbian Handball Federation.