Dzevad Prekazi, Partizan and Galatasaray legend, dies
The midfielder won three titles and the Mitropa Cup with Partizan and two Turkish championships with Galatasaray. He died on Sunday. The funeral has not yet been scheduled.
Dzevad Prekazi once said he wanted two jerseys in his coffin: Partizan’s and Galatasaray’s. That is according to Mondo, and on Sunday, November 8, 2026, the remark took on a weight nobody wanted it to have. Preki, as his home club calls him in its statement, has died, and FK Partizan confirmed the news in the evening.
What did Partizan and Galatasaray say?
The black and whites issued a message that opens with the line: “Football Club Partizan has received with pain and sorrow the news of the death of the legendary player of our club, Dzevad Prekazi.” The statement closes with a direct address to the player: “Preki, thank you for everything and rest in peace.” It adds that the place and time of the funeral will be announced later.
Galatasaray also said goodbye. The Istanbul club, according to Mondo, wrote in its farewell message: “With deep sorrow we say goodbye to Dzevad Prekazi, who wrote his name in golden letters in the history of Galatasaray.”
The cause of death and the place where he died have not been made public.
How old was Dzevad Prekazi?
The sources disagree here. Sport Klub, B92 and Mondo say he died in his 70th year. Wikipedia and the Football Association of Serbia, which listed him in its “In memoriam” section with the years 1957 to 2026, give 1957 as his birth year and August 18 as the date, which would make him 69. Partizan does not mention his age in its statement.
Partizan: 175 games, three titles and the Mitropa Cup
Prekazi played for Partizan’s senior side from 1976 to 1983. He made 175 appearances and scored 23 goals. The club says that as a first-team player he won three league titles (1975/76, 1977/78 and 1982/83) and the Mitropa Cup in 1978. According to the statement, he had first pulled on the black and white shirt as a junior. B92 adds that he played three games for the Yugoslav youth national team.
After Partizan he played for Hajduk Split. B92 also reports that he spent six months playing indoor football in America, for the Baltimore Blast.
Galatasaray: 185 games, 40 goals and a European Cup semifinal
Turkey is where Prekazi left the deepest mark. He played for Galatasaray from 1985 to 1991, made 185 league appearances and scored 40 goals, and twice became Turkish champion. Mondo recalls that in 1989 he led the club to the European Cup semifinals. He also wore the shirts of Altay and Bakirkoyspor.
He was granted Turkish citizenship as well. In an earlier interview with Sport Klub he said that when he applied, he was asked to change his surname, which he refused to do, and that after a President’s Cup match in Ankara against Besiktas, the president’s representatives told him to come for his passport in a few days. A street in Istanbul now bears his name.
Why did he return to Serbia in 1993?
He gave the answer in the same Sport Klub interview:
“First of all, I’m not a materialist, I’m a Guevarist. Second, I decided suddenly to come back because I couldn’t listen to and watch all those things on television anymore. My mind was on the other side, I wasn’t thinking about football. One day I simply told my wife to pack, that we were going back.”
After returning he coached Zeleznik twice, without major results, and worked with the youth categories of several domestic clubs, Partizan among them. More recently he was one of the signatories of the “Appeal to Save Partizan.” In its statement the club says he called Partizan his second home, often dropped by, and followed the black and whites’ results regularly.
Partizan will announce the date and place of the funeral later.
