The Bosnian Footballer of the Year, renamed to Idol Nacije (English translation: The Idol of the nation) in 2008, is an annual award given to the best Bosnian football player of the year, as well as recognising and awarding other sports men and women, coaches and game officials in the country. The event was held in 2001 under the Bosnian banner for the first time, with Sergej Barbarez winning the most prestigious award for best player of the year.[1][2][3]

From 2008 to 2013, the awards was organized by sports news/media website SportSport.ba and broadcast on NTV Hayat and was expanded to include many other award categories. Edin Džeko won three Idol Nacije awards in a row.[4][5] Vedad Ibišević and Asmir Begović were the only other winners. From 2010 awards, it was decided that former player Muhamed Konjić would nominate 10 players for the main award of player of the year. In 2008 Sergej Barbarez had this honor, while Mehmed Baždarević received the task in 2009.[6]

In 2011, it was announced that the ceremony would be held before the end of June, and that all future events would take place during the summer, rather than the winter period.[7] The awards therefore are given for performances during the previous season, rather than for the previous calendar year.[8] Since 2017, the awards have been given out under the name Kristalnih 11.[9]

List of winners

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During the days of Yugoslavia, the award was run collectively on the entire former Yugoslavia territory by newspaper Večernji list from 1972 until the breakup of Yugoslavia. Some of the past winners from the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in those times include:

Year Player Nationality Club
1972 Dušan Bajević   Yugoslavia Velež
1973 Enver Marić   Yugoslavia Velež
1974 Josip Katalinski   Yugoslavia Željezničar
1979 Safet Sušić   Yugoslavia Sarajevo
1985 Blaž Slišković   Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1986 Semir Tuce   Yugoslavia Velež

Idol Nacije

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Edin Džeko is a three-time winner of the Idol Nacije - Player of the Year award

Past winners from the modern-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina include:[2]

Year Player Club
1996 Meho Kodro (1)   CD Tenerife
1997 Meho Kodro (2)   CD Tenerife
1998 Elvir Baljić (1)   Fenerbahçe
1999 Elvir Baljić (2)   Real Madrid
2000 Hasan Salihamidžić (1)   Bayern Munich
2001 Sergej Barbarez (1)   Hamburger SV
2002 Sergej Barbarez (2)   Hamburger SV
2003 Sergej Barbarez (3)   Hamburger SV
2004 Hasan Salihamidžić (2)   Bayern Munich
2005 Hasan Salihamidžić (3)   Bayern Munich
2006 Hasan Salihamidžić (4)   Bayern Munich
2007 Zvjezdan Misimović (1)   1. FC Nürnberg
2008 Vedad Ibišević   1899 Hoffenheim
2009 Edin Džeko (1)   VfL Wolfsburg
2010 Edin Džeko (2)   VfL Wolfsburg
2011 Edin Džeko (3)   Manchester City
2012 Asmir Begović   Stoke City
2013 Zvjezdan Misimović (2)   Guizhou Renhe
2014 Miralem Pjanić   Roma

Player of the Season

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Nemanja Bilbija is a three-time winner of the Kristalnih 11 - Player of the Season award
Season Player Position Nationality Club
2008 Velibor Đurić Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2009 Amer Osmanagić Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Velež
2010 Vule Trivunović Defender   Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac
2011–12 Zajko Zeba (1) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2012–13 Saša Kajkut Forward   Bosnia and Herzegovina Čelik
2013–14 Not held
2014–15 Wagner Midfielder   Brazil Široki Brijeg
2015–16 Zajko Zeba (2) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sloboda
2016–17 Miroslav Stevanović Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2017–18 Goran Zakarić (1) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2018–19 Mersudin Ahmetović Forward   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2019–20 Not held
2020–21 Goran Zakarić (2) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac
2021–22 Nemanja Bilbija (1) Forward   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2022–23 Nemanja Bilbija (2) Forward   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2023–24 Nemanja Bilbija (3) Forward   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski

Young Player of the Season

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Season Player Position Nationality Club
2010 Edin Višća Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2011–12 Josip Kvesić Defender   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2012–13 Nermin Zolotić Defender   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2013–14 Not held
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17 Luka Menalo (1) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Široki Brijeg
2017–18 Luka Menalo (2) Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Široki Brijeg
2018–19 Nihad Mujakić Defender   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2019–20 Not held
2020–21 Andrej Đokanović Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2021–22 Ivan Bašić Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2022–23 Dal Varešanović Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2023–24 Muhamed Buljubašić Midfielder   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo

Manager of the Season

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Amar Osim has won the Manager of the Season award three times with Željezničar
Season Manager Nationality Club
2009 Abdulah Ibraković   Bosnia and Herzegovina Velež
2010 Amar Osim (1)   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2011–12 Amar Osim (2)   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2012–13 Amar Osim (3)   Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
2013–14 Not held
2014–15
2015–16 Vinko Marinović   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2016–17 Mehmed Janjoš   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2017–18 Blaž Slišković   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2018–19 Husref Musemić   Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
2019–20 Not held
2020–21 Feđa Dudić   Bosnia and Herzegovina Velež
2021–22 Sergej Jakirović   Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski
2022–23 Krunoslav Rendulić   Croatia Zrinjski
2023–24 Denis Ćorić   Bosnia and Herzegovina Posušje

References

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  1. ^ uefa.com (12 December 2003). "Bosnia bows to Barbarez". uefa.com. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b worldfootball.net (25 December 2010). "Player of the year – Bosnia-Herzegovina". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  3. ^ fifa.com (4 September 2012). "Barbarez: The players can become immortals". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  4. ^ sportsport.ba (23 June 2012). "Džekin hat-trick: Novi naslov "Idola nacije"". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  5. ^ fifa.com (13 June 2013). "Best-ever Bosnia scale new heights". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  6. ^ Konjić predlaže Idola Nacije – SportSport.ba | BH FUDBAL Archived 2010-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Proglašenje Idola nacije krajem mjeseca" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Proglašenje "Idola nacije" u subotu u Sarajevu" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Kristalnih 11". spfbih.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 9 June 2024.
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