The Regional League will not take place in the 2025/26 season.
After several meetings, the leaders of the national federations of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro have not reached an agreement on the competition format for the next season. Consequently, the upcoming season has been canceled at today’s meeting. Discussions concerning the 2026/27 Regional League will occur next year, with a final decision expected regarding the future of the competition.
In the years after the COVID pandemic, the League has changed its format several times.
Last season, it was played in a standard double round-robin format during the regular season, leading up to the Final Four. The standings in the Regional League determined the rankings of the Serbian, Croatian, and Montenegrin clubs before the national leagues’ playoffs.
What is more important – a national championship or the Regional league?
At today’s meeting, the Water Polo Federation of Serbia proposed a new league format. Instead of a double round-robin regular season, the Serbs suggested holding final tournament(s), with teams qualifying based on their performance in their national leagues. However, the Croatian Water Polo Federation rejected this proposal. Instead, the Croats proposed a one-year break, and all parties involved agreed to this plan.
The National League is a priority for most Serbian clubs. Last season, twelve teams participated in both the Premier and A1 Regional League. All of these clubs also competed in the Serbian Championships, but, due to the competition formula, many of them (those that participated in the A1 League) did not play a single match against the top Serbian clubs—Radnicki, Novi Beograd, and Sabac—and were dissatisfied with this outcome.
A similar situation occurred in Croatia last season as well as in the years before the COVID pandemic. Many clubs participating in the Croatian Championships did not face the top teams, such as Jadran Split, Mladost, or Jug, during the season.
The Montenegrin Water Polo Federation came up with some proposals regarding the improvement of the organization of the League that might solve some of the problems, such as moving the office from Zagreb to Podgorica and attracting sponsors (which will ensure monetary prizes). Still, the three Federations didn’t reach an agreement about this either. It seems that it is too late for that kind of shake-up for the season 2025/26.
Given that there are only five senior clubs in Montenegro, teams from this country are at the biggest loss due to the absence of the Regional League.
In the end, the only agreement that they made was to cancel the season and continue discussions about the future of the league.
Problems and benefits
The League was inaugurated in 2009 with the participation of the clubs from Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia. The doors for the Serbian clubs opened in 2014. In the last few years, the Slovenian clubs have participated occasionally in the A1 Regional League (the second league).
In the last few years, the Regional League has probably been the best water polo competition for the clubs in the world after the Champions League.
However, there have been a lot of problems. The participation in the Regional League is too expensive for many clubs, and there haven’t been any monetary prizes. The League isn’t part of the European Aquatics competition system and doesn’t serve as a qualification competition for the European cups. Since its inauguration, the Regional League has had few sponsors. In the last few years, there have been problems with the name of the pool in Kotor, and some other issues.
Playing in such a quality league is satisfying and beneficial for many clubs in terms of sports rivalry and players’ development, but, obviously, these benefits aren’t enough to keep the league alive in this format.
Besides, the water polo calendar for the 2025/26 season leaves little room for many games in the competitions for clubs, as the European Championships will be held in Belgrade in January.
Radnicki, which won the Regional League this year, will be the reigning champion for at least two seasons. It remains to be seen whether the Kragujevac-based team will be the last champion of the Regional League.
