Serbia and FTC star Lekic to retire at season end

Just a few days before FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria meet Odense Håndbold in the first leg of the EHF Champions League quarter-finals on Sunday, 20 April, Lekic and the club shared her emotional farewell to an 18-year-long career in the top flight. The Serbian star, one of only four players to have scored more than 1,000 goals in the history of the EHF Champions League (1,072 as of 17 April 2025), is still hoping to help steer FTC to another EHF FINAL4 Women and wave goodbye with the shiniest silverware around her neck.

"I feel sad, of course, but at the same time, I feel this is the right way to do. It is so much easier to think about it than to say it out loud. It's hard to part with Andrea, the handball player, and go finding new me, as physically I feel pretty well still, but somehow deep in my soul I feel it's the right moment to do so. I am not worried about the future, and this is also what brought me a sense of peace.

"Sports definitely teach us that hard work pays off, handball pushed me to my limits. Other than the joy and happiness of doing what I love the most, I met so many people along the way," says Lekic in the farewell video. 

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The Serbian began her career in Belgrade before joining Knjaz Miloš, but it was her move to Krim Mercator Ljubljana at the age of 19 that would start her rise to the top of handball. After four years at Krim, Lekic moved to Györi Audi ETO KC in 2011. Györ reached the Champions League finals in 2011/12 and in 2012/13 won the title.

Lekic has since reached the Champions League finals three more times, playing at the EHF FINAL4 Women with HC Vardar in 2017 and 2018, and with FTC in 2023. 

She has won numerous domestic league and cup titles, in Slovenia, Hungary and North Macedonia; with CSM Bucuresti, Lekic won the Romanian Cup and Supercup in 2019. 

Lekic returned to Krim for one season in 2021/22 but will finish her career at FTC, the club for which she has played since 2022. FTC have just retained the Hungarian cup and currently have a narrow lead over Györ in the Hungarian league, which they also won last season.

Lekic earned her first Serbian jersey in 2006 and was a key player of the squad which won silver at the 2013 IHF Women's World Championship. She was named IHF World Player of the Year in 2013. Other individual honours include All-star centre back at the Women's EHF EURO 2012, where Serbia finished fourth.

Just this month, Lekic made her comeback to the Serbian national team after a four-year gap, scoring 15 goals as Serbia defeated Slovenia in European qualification for the 2025 IHF Women's World Championship. She will retire as the highest-scoring player in Serbian women's handball, with almost 600 goals for the national team.

Now, after 18 consecutive seasons in the EHF Champions League, the last matches are on the horizon for the Serbian superstar, who hopes to stay involved in handball, a sport she cherishes so much. 

"But as I said, handball is not all about winning, losing and trophies. It’s about friendship and support you get on your way. Friends and all people I met on this handball journey are the biggest treasure I have. That is one of the most important things you get from sport.

"All that is why our sport is so special and why I loved it so much in the first place. And I think I’ll probably never leave it. I see myself in sport and handball after my professional career too. I feel great working in sport and it's something that comes naturally to me," said Lekic in This is me in 2021. 

Lekic is also been an ambassador for the EHF's Respect Your Talent programme since 2019, inspiring future generations and supporting them in their career development.

Main image © Fradi Média/Szilvia Micheller