Siniša Mihajlović, Soccer Player and Coach, Dies at 53

Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
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Siniša Mihajlović, Soccer Player and Coach, Dies at 53

Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)

Siniša Mihajlović, a former standout soccer player in his native Serbia and then Italy who became a popular coach in Serie A, has died after a long battle with leukemia. He was 53. 

Mihajlović’s family announced Friday that he died in a Rome hospital. 

Mihajlović had most recently coached Bologna for 3 ½ years, becoming a sentimental favorite of fans and players alike for his desire to remain on the job even after he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019. 

Players sometimes gathered under Mihajlović’s hospital window when the coach was receiving treatment. 

He was fired by Bologna in September. 

A full-back and free kick specialist, Mihajlović was on the Red Star Belgrade team that won the European Cup in 1991. He also won Serie A as a player with Lazio in 2000 and was on the Inter Milan team that was given the 2006 Serie A title after Juventus was stripped of the honor for the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. 

“The Serie A league is deeply pained by the death of Siniša Mihajlović,” the Italian league tweeted. “His pure class as a footballer and coach, his strength and his humanity are an example that leaves an indelible void in Italian and world soccer.” 

Mihajlović also coached Catania, Fiorentina, Serbia’s national team, Sampdoria, AC Milan and Torino. 



Wimbledon Announces Record $73M Prize Fund, $4M for Singles Champions

12 June 2025, United Kingdom, London: All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) Chair Deborah Jevans and Chief Executive Sally Bolton attend a press conference at the AELTC in Wimbledon ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on june 30th. Photo: Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpa
12 June 2025, United Kingdom, London: All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) Chair Deborah Jevans and Chief Executive Sally Bolton attend a press conference at the AELTC in Wimbledon ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on june 30th. Photo: Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpa
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Wimbledon Announces Record $73M Prize Fund, $4M for Singles Champions

12 June 2025, United Kingdom, London: All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) Chair Deborah Jevans and Chief Executive Sally Bolton attend a press conference at the AELTC in Wimbledon ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on june 30th. Photo: Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpa
12 June 2025, United Kingdom, London: All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) Chair Deborah Jevans and Chief Executive Sally Bolton attend a press conference at the AELTC in Wimbledon ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on june 30th. Photo: Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpa

Wimbledon’s prize money has risen to a record 53.5 million pounds (about $73 million) and the singles champions will each earn three million pounds ($4 million), All England Club officials announced on Thursday.

The total amount is 3.5 million pounds ($6.8 million) more than last year, an increase of 7% — and exactly twice the pot handed out to competitors at the grass-court Grand Slam 10 years ago.

“We’re immensely proud of the fact that if you look back 10 years, you can see the increase over that period and 7% this year,” All England chair Deborah Jevans said. “And we have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players.”

The 2025 winners’ checks represent an 11.1% jump on last year’s prizes for the men’s and women’s singles champions and comes amid growing player demands for a bigger share of grand slam profits.

Players who lose in the first round of singles will get 66,000 pounds, up 10% year on year, The Associated Press reported.

“The focus on just the prize money at four events, the Grand Slams, does not get to the heart of what the challenge is for tennis,” Jevans added.

“The challenge with tennis is the fact that the players don’t have an offseason which they want, they have increasing injuries that they’re speaking about, and we’ve always said that we as Wimbledon are willing to engage and talk with the tours to try and find solutions, and that door remains open.”

Wimbledon starts on June 30 and runs until July 13. For the first time in the oldest Grand Slam, line judges will be replaced with electronic line-calling.