Serbian footballer Nemanja Matic has lodged a police complaint concerning threats made by former Football Association of Serbia president Slavisa Kokeza

International star Nemanja Matić joins Nemanja Vidić in taking legal action after leaked encrypted chats revealed a former football chief’s plot to silence critics.

Serbian football star Nemanja Matić has filed a criminal complaint against Slaviša Kokeza, the former president of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS), following revelations that the official plotted to threaten and intimidate him.

Matić confirmed to OCCRP’s Serbian partner KRIK that he filed the complaint for "endangering safety" two weeks ago at a police station in his hometown of Ub. He declined to comment further on the case.

The move comes after a June 30 investigation by OCCRP and KRIK revealed that Kokeza used the encrypted Sky ECC app to discuss hiring mafia figures to assault a group of high-profile players. The targets included Matić, Danko Lazović, and Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidić, who had publicly criticized Kokeza’s leadership.

According to the leaked 2020 messages, Kokeza used mob-style language and asked contacts to send people to intimidate the players’ inner circles.

"Right now I realistically need the most help to eliminate Vidić, [Danko] Lazović, and Matić," he told one interlocutor.

He believed physical threats would be effective even for those playing abroad. While noting that Matić and Vidić didn’t live in Serbia at the time, Kokeza wrote that "they aren’t indifferent about their families either."

Matić’s formal pushback follows a similar criminal complaint recently filed by Vidić. Serbia’s Prosecution for Organized Crime (TOK) told the N1 news outlet that Vidić has been summoned to give a statement regarding his filing.

The complaints from the players add to mounting legal pressure on the former football chief. 

State prosecutors recently announced they were requesting all relevant Sky ECC communications from the Ministry of the Interior to review the case, while a Belgrade-based lawyer filed a separate complaint accusing Kokeza of preparing a murder.

Despite the severity of the leaked chats—which also exposed political rifts within the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and alleged that President Aleksandar Vučić met with prominent hooligans to show them police wiretaps—the president has downplayed the findings.