Former Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric has passed away at the age of 87 after a brief illness.
A statement from Mandaric’s family read: “The family of Milan Mandaric are deeply saddened to announce his passing earlier today in a Belgrade hospital following a short illness.
“Milan will be fondly remembered as chairman and owner of Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday in the UK, along with a number of US and European clubs.
“His love for football was only surpassed by that for his family; he will be sadly missed by his two daughters and three grandchildren. The family have asked for privacy at this sad time.”
The Serbian-American entrepreneur Mandaric purchased Portsmouth out of administration in 1999 and guided the south-coast side into the Premier League under manager Harry Redknapp.
He departed Fratton Park in 2006 and soon finalised a takeover of Leicester.
The Foxes went on to capture the League One title under manager Nigel Pearson before Mandaric sold the club to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
A statement from Leicester read: “All at Leicester City Football Club are saddened to learn of the passing of our former chairman Milan Mandaric.
“Milan brought passion and charisma to the club between 2007 and 2010, a period which included a League One title win.”
Mandaric later made a return to English football when he assumed control at Sheffield Wednesday in December 2010 – which the South Yorkshire outfit said had “rescued the Owls from a period of distress” and “beamed new light into Hillsborough”.
During his five years in charge, Wednesday achieved promotion to the Championship in 2011-12.
Mandaric stayed active in football with Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana before taking on a vice-presidential role with Serbian Superliga team Vojvodina in his birthplace of Novi Sad.