1965–66 Yugoslav First League
| Season | 1965–66 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Vojvodina (1st title) |
| Relegated |
Radnički Belgrade Trešnjevka |
| European Cup | Vojvodina |
| Cup Winners' Cup | OFK Belgrade |
| Inter-Cities Fairs Cup |
Dinamo Zagreb Red Star Belgrade Olimpija Ljubljana |
| Top goalscorer | Petar Nadoveza (21) |
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← 1964–65
1966–67 →
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The 1965–66 Yugoslav First League season was the 20th season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: 'Prva savezna liga'), the top level association football league of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Sixteen teams contested the competition, with Vojvodina winning their first national title.
Though the events in question happened 14 months earlier, the beginning of the 1965-66 season and subsequently the entire campaign were marked by revelation of match fixing from two seasons before.
FK Željezničar, Hajduk Split, and NK Trešnjevka were in August 1965, just as the new season began, found guilty of fixing matches back in the 1963-64 season. Their guilt was based on the written statement by the Željo goalkeeper Ranko Planinić who decided to come forward some 14 months after the fact. In his statement Planinić claimed on the record that his club threw matches against Hajduk and Trešnjevka towards the end of the 1963-64 season in order to help those two relegation-threatened teams avoid the drop. Specifically, Planinić claimed that the match played on 31 May 1964 in Split when Hajduk beat Željezničar 4-0 was fixed, as well as the match on 7 June 1964 in Sarajevo when Željo and Trešnjevka tied 3-3. He was in Željo's goal for both matches.
This explosive testimony erupted in a nationwide scandal that became known as the 'Planinić Affair'. Many times in the past Yugoslav First League had been plagued by rumours of widespread match fixing, however this was the first occasion that a player had come forward and substantiated those claims on the record.
On 27 August 1965, the Yugoslav FA's disciplinary body (disciplinski sud) presided over by Svetozar Savić handed out the following penalties:
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