Club career

He started playing water polo in 1984, in WC Crvena Zvezda where he played for all young categories teams. He transferred to WC Partizan in 1991, not yet fourteen he made his senior debut in 1992. He returned to WC Crvena Zvezda in 1993 and he continued his career in WC Bečej starting 1994. In 2001, he moved to Italy, WC Camogli, where he spent three seasons, and after that, he transferred to WC Rari Nantes Savona. He left Italy in 2006 when he went to Russian water polo club Shturm 2002 where he signed a contract that made him the best-paid player in water polo history.^[7]

During his brilliant club career, he won 21 trophies of which 9 National Championship (6 he won in SRY, 2 in Russia and 1 in Italy). He also won National Cups 9 times (7 National Cups of SRY and 2 National Cups of Russia). He once won LEN Euroleague and twice LEN CUP.^[8]

In the period 1996–2009 he was the leagues' top scorer fourteen times in a row, 6 times in SRY, 5 times in Italy, and 3 times in Russia. During his club career he scored 1.694 goals, most of the number 924 he scored for clubs in SRY, in Italian league he scored 494 times and in Russia 276 times.^[9]

He finished his professional water polo career in 2009.

Club titles (21)

• 9 National Championships – 6 SRY, 2 Russia, 1 Italy
• 9 National Cups- 7 SRY, 2 Russia
• 2 LEN Cups
• 1 LEN Euroleague

14 consecutive top-scorer titles 1996–2009

• National Championship of Yugoslavia Top Scorer (6): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
• Serie A1 Top Scorer (5): 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
• Russian Championship Top Scorer (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• LEN Champions League Top Scorer (2): 1999–2000, 2002–03
• Olympic Games Top Scorer (3): 2000 Sydney:2004 Athens : 2008 Beijing
• Best Sportsman by OCS (1): 2004
• World Championship MVP (1): 2005 Montreal
• World Championship Top Scorer (2):2003 Barcelona : 2005 Montreal
• European Championship Top Scorer (3): 2003 Kranj, 2006 Belgrade, 2008 Málaga
• World Cup Top Scorer (1): 2006 Budapest
• Serbia's sport association "May Award" : 2008

Number of scored goals

• SRY (Crvena zvezda, Becej) – 924
• Italy (Camogli, Rari Nantes Savona) – 494
• Russia (Shturm 2002) – 276

National team career

Šapić made his debut for the national team of Yugoslavia in December 1995 when he was only seventeen, and played for them until 2008. At the very start of his national team career, Yugoslavia won two European U19 championships – 1995 in Esslingen and 1996 in Istanbul – and Šapić was the best player and top scorer in both.

He took part in his first major competition at the age of eighteen, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He would play for the national team in the Olympic Games four times and he went on to win three Olympic medals, bronze when representing Yugoslavia at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, silver for Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and another bronze medal when playing for Serbia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.^[10]

With the national team of Yugoslavia, later Serbia and Montenegro, and finally Serbia, he played in 22 sports tournaments overall, winning a total of 20 medals, five of which were from the European Championships, four from the World Championships and three from the Olympic Games. He won two medals in the World Cup, five in World League tournaments, and he won a gold medal in the 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari.

Šapić scored 981 goals in 385 games that he played for the national team. He was twice top scorer in the Olympic Games. Šapić ranks third on the all-time scoring list in Olympic history, with 64 goals. He was four times top scorer of both the World Championship and the European Championship. He was also four times the top scorer of the World League tournaments and he won the title of top scorer twice in the World Cup.

During his national team career, the team was named "ideal team" eight times in the tournaments that he played in, three times in both the World and European Championships, and twice in the Olympic Games.

World Championship

• 1998 – bronze medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2001 – silver medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2003 – bronze medal – top scorer
• 2005 – gold medal – MVP and top scorer – ideal team
• 2007 – 4th place

European Championship

• 1997 – silver medal
• 2001 – gold medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2003 – gold medal – MVP – ideal team
• 2006 – gold medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2008 – silver medal – top scorer

Olympic Games

• 1996 – 8th place
• 2000 – bronze medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2004 – silver medal – top scorer – ideal team
• 2008 – bronze medal

World League

• 2004 – silver medal – top scorer
• 2005 – gold medal – top scorer
• 2006 – gold medal
• 2007 – gold medal – top scorer
• 2008 – gold medal – top scorer

World Cup

• 2002 – bronze medal – top scorer
• 2006 – gold medal – top scorer

Mediterranean Games

• 1997 – gold medal

Number of scored goals

• National team (SRY, SMne, Serbia) – 981^[11]
• Number of goals scored in career – 2675

Top scorer

• 2 times top scorer Olympic Games
• 4 times top scorer European Championship
• 4 times top scorer World League
• 2 times top scorer World Cup

Ideal team

• 8 times chosen in ideal team (OG, WC, EC)

Post-retirement career

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (May 2017)

Besides his full of trophies water polo career, he gave his contribution to Serbian sport through engagement in sports organisations. He was the president of the water polo club Crvena zvezda from 2003 to 2004.

After finishing his career as a player in Italian club Rari Nantes Savona for the club he continued working as a sports manager for European competitions in the period 2006–2014.

Embezzlement scandal

Millions of euros intended for lectures on preventing peer and digital violence in 2021, the first year post the corona virus pandemic outbreak, were designated by the Ministry of Family Care and Demography. However, these funds were funnelled to phantom associations, each receiving an average of 210,000 euros.

At the heart of this controversy is Aleksandar Šapić, alongside his three close associates - Aleksandra Čamagić, Bisera Pejčić, and Kristina Glišić.

Operating within the competition commissions of the Ministry, they wielded influence in the allocation of funds and approval of fabricated reports submitted by these dubious organisations.

BIRN's investigation uncovers that these phantom entities, financially supported by Šapić's associates over the years, diverted the allocated funds. Instead of utilising the money for lectures in schools across 17 cities in Serbia, the funds were redirected to numerous private agencies owned by their relatives, friends, neighbours, and acquaintances.^[19]

Unfortunately, the intended lectures either did not take place or were conducted on a significantly smaller scale, often relegated to the purview of the local youth office. The scandal highlights concerns about the allocation process's integrity and the misappropriation of public funds under the influence of key individuals like Aleksandar Šapić.

Kentkart scandal

In April 2023, Aleksandar Šapić faced allegations of corruption and abuse of power after audio recordings of his chief of staff Nenad Milanović offering a deal to the Turkish company Kentkart, which provides ticketing services for public transportation in Belgrade, were revealed to the public. According to the recordings, Milanović proposed that Kentkart agree to terminate its existing contract from 2021 and in return, he would arrange a new public procurement for them. Kentkart rejected the offer and accused Milanović of trying to involve them in illegal activities. Šapić denied any wrongdoing and said that he was happy that the prosecution would investigate the case. He also claimed that Kentkart had been overcharging the city for years and that he intended to end their contract and sue them for damages.^{[20][21][22][23]}