Vladimir Petković

A midfielder with good technique, Petković started playing football in Ilidža as an eleven-year-old before joining the youth sector of his hometown side FK Sarajevo as a fifteen-year-old. He remained at FK Sarajevo and began his professional career there in the early 1980s. Petković made only a handful of appearances in a strong Sarajevo side led on the pitch by Bosnian Safet Sušić. Petković was a part of the Sarajevo side that won the 1984–85 Yugoslav First League, but made only two league appearances for them. His time at Sarajevo was interrupted by two brief stints elsewhere: first, a successful time with Rudar Prijedor where Petković showed good scoring ability; and then a less successful season in the Yugoslav Second League with a poor NK Koper side which was relegated after finishing last. Petković emigrated from Yugoslavia in 1987, leaving FK Sarajevo and moving permanently to Switzerland, where he joined second division club Chur 97. After a season with Chur, Petković moved to the Swiss top division, joining a strong Sion side. Sion achieved a third-place finish in the Nationalliga but Petković left the club at the end of the season after only making six league appearances. After leaving Sion, Petković moved back into the lower tiers, first joining Martigny-Sports before returning to his first Swiss club, Chur 97. Petković enjoyed a career as a regular goalscoring midfielder in the Swiss second division, which included two more stints at Bellinzona and…

While living in Switzerland, Petković worked for Caritas Ticino, a Catholic relief development and social service organisation, for five years.

Coaching in Switzerland

After his retirement from playing, Petković became a coach and his first job was player-manager at Bellinzona in 1997. In 2004, he took over the reins at Lugano before returning to Bellinzona for the fourth time in his career, where he led the club to the 2008 Swiss Cup final, only to lose out to Basel, and promotion to the Swiss Super League. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, he was appointed as manager of Young Boys. After taking charge at the club, Petković installed a 3–4–3 formation and took the Bern side to a second-placed league finish. After two more seasons with Young Boys, he was sacked after a 1–1 draw against Luzern on 7 May 2011. The club finished in third place in the league behind their rivals Zürich and Basel.

Samsunspor and return to Switzerland

In 2011, he became the new manager of Turkish side Samsunspor. He resigned from that position in January 2012 with the club in the relegation zone. On 15 May 2012, he was named the new temporary manager of Sion until the end of the 2011–12 season.

Lazio

On 2 June 2012, Petković became the new manager of Italian side Lazio in Serie A. He won the Coppa Italia with the club in the 2012–13 season, thanks to a 71st minute goal from compatriot Senad Lulić in the 2013 Coppa Italia Final against Roma.|final]].

Switzerland national team

On 23 December 2013, it was announced that Petković was to succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld as the manager of the Switzerland…

Petković was born in Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia, modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1963 to a Bosnian Croat family. He is a naturalized Swiss and holds Bosnian, Swiss and Croatian passports. His parents worked in education and due to the family's frequent moving, Petković changed schools several times. They first lived in Vrelo Bosne and then when he was five years old, in Hadžići near Sarajevo.