Yugoslav Turmoil Complicates Job of Water Polo Official

It sounded like a good idea to Misa Radan.

Accept a position as the honorary tournament director of the Alamo Cup, then hang out in Southern California, shake a few hands and promote an international water polo tournament featuring the United States, Italy, Canada and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

It turns out there were a few things missing from the job description.

Radan, a Yugoslav banker who was instrumental in developing Yugoslavia into the dominant world power that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, found himself fielding questions about war in his homeland and translating for the Russian team at a luncheon Tuesday to promote the tournament.

When asked if he had an update of the International Olympic Committee’s announcement that it is considering banning Yugoslavia from the Olympic Games, Radan said, “I have been traveling--the first I heard about it was this morning when I read the press release.”

It was the same release that announced he would be the honorary director. Ever affable, Radan noted that nations such as Spain, Germany and Italy have Yugoslav coaches assisting them, “so in any case, Yugoslavia will take part and it will be easier to win medals.”

Italy, which will play the CIS at 8 p.m. Friday at El Toro High, is coached by former Yugoslav National Coach Ratko Rudic. Rudic coached Yugoslavia to gold medals in 1984 and 1988, but has not developed the Italians into a dominant team.

The CIS and the United States are expected to play for the championship. The United States is the top-ranked team in the world after winning the FINA Cup in Barcelona last year. The United States will play Canada at 6:30 p.m. to open the tournament.

Notes

The CIS will play Italy at 8 p.m. Friday, after the United States-Canada match. On Saturday, at Corona del Mar High School, the losers of Friday’s matches will play at 3:30 and the winners will play at 5 p.m. On Sunday, the teams will play against the opponent that they haven’t played at noon and 1:30 at UC San Diego. . . . The United States and CIS will play an exhibition tonight at Corona del Mar at 7:30 p.m.