Serbia became the latest team at the Olympic soccer tournament to be hit by a club-versus-country row yesterday, with one of their own sides at the centre of the row.
Partizan Belgrade ordered Ljubomir Fejsa and Zoran Tosic to return from the Olympics for their Champions League tie with Fenerbahce on Wednesday.
But Serbian media said that coach Miroslav Djukic, who threatened to quit before the tournament in a similar row with the same club, had no intention of letting them go.
"Partizan's request is ridiculous because if I let them have it their way, other players will follow suit and we would be left with a circus instead of a football team," Djukic - a former Partizan coach - was quoted as saying by daily Sportski Zurnal.
Last week, a long-running dispute between Argentina and Barcelona ended with the Spanish club agreeing to let Lionel Messi play at the Olympics despite winning a case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
German clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 also agreed to let Brazilian pair Diego and Rafinha stay in China after CAS ruled in their favour in the same case.