Serbia’s European gold medal-winning set-up quit, saying federations chief has shown a lack of respect for their efforts.

Serbia’s men’s Olympic water polo head coach resigned, and 11 members of its European gold medal-winning squad have boycotted the team over comments by the newly appointed federation chief, the sport’s body has confirmed.

The crisis comes after Serbia, among the world’s leading water polo nations and gold medal winners at Paris 2024, failed to qualify for July’s World Cup finals in Sydney.

In an open letter on Friday, the players said new federation President Slobodan Soro had “repeatedly sought through his statements to discredit and belittle” the team’s achievements.

Soro had earlier said the European championship win in January was the result of “momentary inspiration” and said the national team was no longer at its previous level.

The remarks sparked anger and prompted the resignation of coach Uros Stevanovic and a player boycott.

“We unanimously decided to withdraw from Serbia’s national team as long as Slobodan Soro and his team remain in charge,” the players said in an open letter.

“Our gold medals,” they added, “were not the product of momentary inspiration”, but “of years of great sacrifice”.

The federation published the letter on its website, while stressing that it was signed by “seven former and four current” national team players.

The federation also said it “does not wish to take part in what a perfectly normal process within a sports body has turned into”.

Soro, a former goalkeeper, was appointed federation president on April 29 and made the controversial remarks immediately after his election.

He has not yet commented on the players’ boycott. Serbia’s European title came in Belgrade at the start of this year to follow their Olympic success.