The club announced that the legendary coach will not be returning to the bench
Zeljko Obradovic and Partizan officially part ways
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After all, Zeljko Obradovic did not change his mind.
The nine-time EuroLeague champion is, indeed, leaving the bench of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade after an announcement made on the club’s website on Saturday afternoon.
"The coach of the black-and-whites has stuck to his decision not to withdraw his resignation due to the fact that he does not see himself working with the current team, as well as the impact that daily work at this level has on his health," Partizan said in a club statement that ended a four-day emotional saga.
Obradovic first tendered his resignation on Wednesday, following a heavy 22-point defeat to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens that left Partizan 18th in the EuroLeague standings with a 4–9 record. In his letter to Partizan fans, he described the move as an "irrevocable resignation."
Initially the club confirmed the coach's resignation, but the morning after the club board refused to accept his decision, hoping the nine-time EuroLeague champion could be persuaded to reconsider.
The Partizan fans were not losing hope either, and thousands gathered to give their beloved head coach a spontaneous hero's welcome at Belgrade airport on Thursday afternoon.
The signs that Obradovic might return to the bench seemed to be there. However, despite a long meeting with the club board on Friday, the 65-year old Obradovic ended up not changing his mind.
"The significance, in basketball sense and symbolically, that Zeljko Obradovic has for Partizan and for global basketball is unmeasurable. The void he is leaving will be hard to fill. The door will always be open for Zeljko Obradovic to return to Partizan, and Partizan will always be his home," said the press release which officially brings an end to Obradovic's second spell at Partizan.
He started his coaching career there in 1991, making an abrupt jump to coaching after spending seven years as a player, and guiding Partizan to its only EuroLeague title in 1992.
Obradovic made a legendary return to the club in 2021, and was at the helm as Partizan marked its return to the EuroLeague in 2022. That season, with Mathias Lessort, Kevin Punter and Dante Exum on the floor, the team reached the EuroLeague Playoffs and went to Game 5 against the eventual champion Real Madrid.
However, Partizan narrowly missed out on the postseason in both of the last two seasons, ending each with an identical 16-18 mark. Losses in seven of the last eight games of the current 2025-26 campaign have dropped Partizan near the bottom of the standings.
The team will have a chance to stop its losing skid on Thursday night when it welcomes FC Bayern Munich, however, with a new man in as head coach.