Football Association of Republika Srpska

N/FSBIH
Founded	5 September 1992
Headquarters	Banja Luka
N/FSBIH affiliation	2002
President	Vico Zeljković
Website	www.fsrs.org

TheFootball Association of Republika Srpska (Serbian:Фудбалски савез Републике Српске, ФСРС /Fudbalski savez Republike Srpske,FSRS) is the officialfootball association of theRepublika Srpska entity ofBosnia and Herzegovina.

It organizes thenational cup, thedomestic league which forms one of the two second-tier divisions below thenational top division. The FSRS also has anational team that represents Republika Srpska in onlyfriendly 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 withinBosnia and Herzegovina's FA.

It was formed on 5 September 1992 by thegovernment 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 theFirst League of FR Yugoslavia. After the failure to join the newly formed Yugoslav League (consisting of clubs fromSerbia andMontenegro), 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, theFirst 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 20 December 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 andTrivan.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: Nedimić, Bjelivuk, Tatić, Božić,Dragišić, Šorgić, Botić,Cugalj.

After the conflict in Bosnia ended, the Bosnian league was split into three ethnically-based sections. TheFootball 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 theBosniak football federation was the only one to join, its clubs alone were allowed to compete internationally and contest the newly formedPremier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina.^{[citation needed]}

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 23 May 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 presidentSlobodan 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".^{[citation needed]}

The association had its own Championship since 1995. TheFirst League of the Republika Srpska which is the top tier is played in a league system where clubs meet all other in two rounds twice, once as host another as visitor being at the end the club with the major number of points proclaimed the Champion of Republika Srpska. After 2002 the top clubs of the First league are promoted to the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, the First League of RS and theFirst League of FBiH form the second national tier of Bosnia and Herzegovina league system. For more information on the current format look into Bosnia'sPremier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Below are the results from the seven seasons before the merge. Note none of these champions were recognized by FIFA or UEFA and could not participate in any European club competitions.

A list o the presidents of the Football Association of Republika Srpska since its foundation on 5 September 1992 until the present day.^[1]

• Official website

• Football in Republika Srpska
• Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina

• CS1 Bosnian-language sources (bs)
• Use dmy dates from September 2021
• Articles containing Serbian-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2025