Serbia's Olympic soccer team coach Miroslav Djukic threatened to quit if he cannot take the best players available to next month's Beijing Games.

"I will not back down and if the clubs refuse to release the under-23 players they are obliged to, I will stand down and not go to China for the Olympic Games," Djukic told Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.

"It is a ridiculous situation and I just can't understand that some people think it's irrelevant how far we get in the Olympics," he said in a report published yesterday.

Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade have declined to release several players they said were essential for their bid to reach the Champions League group stage.

Djukic, who trained Partizan before he took over as Serbia coach in January, fears other clubs might follow suit.

"Red Star Belgrade and Vojvodina Novi Sad will take the same stance if we let Partizan get away with it because they too are playing in Europe," he said.

"We also can't expect European clubs to release our best players if our own clubs are defiant."

Serbia have been drawn in the same group with Olympic champions Argentina, who are facing resistance from Barcelona over the selection of Lionel Messi, Australia and Ivory Coast.

Djukic is to make his competitive debut in Beijing after registering two draws and three defeats in friendlies with the senior team that failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

He will be especially keen to avoid the 6-0 drubbing by Argentina and the 5-1 rout at the hands of Australia suffered by Serbia at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"I can't lead a team that will go to China for their own amusement and hardly break sweat because this kind of attitude produced the debacle we suffered in Athens," he said.