“Bribery for referees” reloaded! The police arrested a referee accused of ties to a criminal clan! 250,000 undeclared euros found in his home

The press in Serbia writes that, following a police search, the sum of 250,000 euros was discovered in the apartment of the 39-year-old referee, who was summarily suspended from the Euroleague.

250,000 euros in cash, other valuables were found at the arbitrator's residence, but also luxury cars, goods that cannot be justified from his declared income. Uroš Nikolić, who had been under the authorities' attention for a long time, was arrested in an operation to break up a criminal network (together with 29 other people), which was active in Serbia and Spain.

The news was broadcast Thursday morning by Serbian state television, RTS. Euroleague Basketball later issued an official statement announcing the referee's suspension.

Links with the dreaded “Vracar Clan”

According to the Serbian publication Blic, his arrest is closely connected to an international police operation, there are suspicions regarding the official's links with an organized criminal group, the dreaded “Vracar Clan”. Nikolić was due to be questioned today at the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime in Serbia.

The “Vracar Clan” criminal structure operates mainly in the Belgrade area, in the Vracar neighborhood, Blic also writes. Its members are suspected of serious crimes: assassinations, attempted assassinations, drug trafficking, arms trafficking.

Raised by masked men with handcuffs

Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs has released the video footage of the operation that led to the arrest of the EuroLeague referee, as news of the referee's arrest sparked strong reactions in Serbia in recent hours.

The suspects are charged with serious crimes, including murder and public disorder.

Recently refereed in the Euroleague

Nikolic, 39, has been refereeing Euroleague Basketball competitions since 2019, notes eurohoops.net, a basketball website.

His career peaked with appearances in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in the 2020–21 and 2023–24 seasons. In 2021, in Koln, he was part of the brigade that officiated the small final between AX Armani Exchange Milan and CSKA, together with Juan Carlos García and Mehdi Difallah. In 2024, he refereed the third-place match between Olympiacos and Fenerbahce Beko, together with Sreten Radovic and Carlos Peruga.

Uros Nikolic was suspended by the Euroleague

One of his most recent appearances was on 2 October, in the second leg of the 2025-26 regular season, when he officiated, alongside Damir Javor and Dragan Porobic, the match between Real Madrid and Olympiacos.