European Aquatics president Antonio Silva signed an agreement with the Serbian government to relocate its headquarters to Belgrade from Nyon, Switzerland. The agreement comes on the tail end of the men’s water polo European Championships in the Serbian capital.
Serbian news outlet Tanjug first broke the news of the signed agreement, showing a picture of Silva shaking hands with Serbia’s Minister of Sports, Zoran Gajic, today.
“This is important for our country’s global image,” Gajic told Tanjug.”… for the first time, the headquarters of a sport will be in this part of Europe. Of course, World Aquatics is headquartered in Budapest, while European Aquatics will be headquartered here. This is the first step to a relocation of at least five offices of various confederations of various sports.”
European Aquatics also reported that Costa had met with Gacic and Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic today. At the time of publication, the organization had not publicly spoken about the headquarters agreement.
The continent’s aquatic governing body first voted to relocate its headquarters to Belgrade in September of 2025 during its Congress meeting. Then, the organization said it needed to hammer out final stipulations with the Serbian government.
European Aquatics is following in the footsteps of World Aquatics with respect to moving out of Switzerland. The global body has opened up its interim office in Budapest as it works to fully transition away from Lausanne. Both organizations could be moving away from Switzerland, which is home to FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, in favor of sites that are cheaper and closer to the action of aquatic sports.
Belgrade hosts Milan Gale Muškatirović Sports Centre, which recently hosted the 2024 European Aquatics Championships. It also just hosted the 2026 Men’s Water Polo Championships, which Serbia won. The Balkan nation is also the 3x defending Olympic Champions in the sport.
European Aquatics vice president and former Serbian water polo player Vanja Udovicic facilitated negotiations with the government. He had previously said that EA’s proposal included a “rent-free 500 square metre office in a city centre location and access to aquatic facilities as well as guaranteed hosting fees for 10 years (with an option to extend by five more)”.