A star-studded career will be ended at the end of the current season, as Serbia and FTC-Rail Cargo centre back, Andrea Lekić, announced that she will retire effective this summer.

37-year-old Lekić has been long seen as one of the brightest minds on the handball court of her generation, with a spectacular career, which saw her play at nine club teams, since she emerged on the big stage.

The centre back was named the 2013 IHF Female Player of the Year, after she delivered a fantastic performance at the 2013 IHF Women’s World Championship, when Lekić led Serbia to a silver medal, after conceding a 20:22 loss in the final against Brazil.

She started at Belgrade club ORK, the city where she was born, before moving to ŽRK Radnički Belgrade and ŽRK Knjaz Miloš, where she spent one year each. Then, Lekić signed for Krim Mercator Ljubljana, where she reached superstardom status, spending four years, between 2007 and 2011.

A move to Győri Audi ETO KC, where the centre back won her only title in the EHF Champions League Women, in 2013, but soon she moved to HC Vardar, where she spent five years, between 2013 and 2018, playing the final of the Champions League twice, both time losing against Győr.

Following her stint at Vardar, Lekić featured for two years at CSM București, one year at Krim, before signing for FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, where she would have spent the last three years of her career, playing another final in the Champions League in 2023, lost against Vipers.


Photo credit: Rukometni Savez Srbije

“What we call a new beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from,” said Lekić in an emotional farewell video posted on her Instagram page.

“26 years of running after a ball is slowly coming to an end. This will be the last professional season of my career. From that eleven year-old girl who ran after the ball the first time and fell in love at first sight with the sport, I have never dreamed that handball would take me on such an unforgettable journey,” added Lekić.

Lekić came back for the Serbia national team this April, after a four-year hiatus, helping her side secure a spot at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, with a 60:58 aggregate win against Slovenia, but she will not play in this edition of the world handball flagship competition.

"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,” concluded Lekić.