Serbian mafia connection claimed

The Serbian mafia has been forced underground following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in March.

This has allowed some frank appraisals of what kind of influence the crime syndicate had on other areas, and it appears footballers were an easy target.

Players such as PSV Eindhoven's Mateja Kezman and Werder Bremen defender Maden Krstajic were named in a feature by Serbian daily, Vecernje Novosti, exposing an alleged practice that has been going on for years.

The arrest of a high-profile Serbian mafia member in Germany led to police finding a list of top players, complete with their phone numbers, their clubs and even the money they had in their bank accounts.

Krstajic was interviewed by police about a large payment made to a Cypriot bank and there were suggestions the player had received threats to his family.

However, the defender insisted that this was not the case and rejected the offer of police protection.

Kezman also claimed that suspicious payments back to his home nation were a gift to the die-hard fans of former club Partizan Belgrade.