Fascism in stadiums in BiH: Does the Association have the strength and will to defeat it?

Written by: Haris Ljevo

Nationalist rampage on sports football fields in BiH has become a daily occurrence, and worst of all, it seems that no one has the will and strength to fight against it.

The latest case of fan rampage by Borac fans in Banja Luka during the BiH Premier League match against Sarajevo is just one in a series of such incidents on football stadiums in BiH. In Banja Luka, choral singing of “Marša na Drinu”, insults against the state, and even against the NATO pact could be heard.

This is not the first incident for Borac fans. In previous years, banners supporting convicted war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić could be seen at the City Stadium in Banja Luka, chants of “Nož, žica, Srebrenica” could be heard, matches were interrupted, mostly against clubs from the Federation of BiH, primarily Željezničar and Sarajevo, without the BiH Football Association ever seriously considering punishing the Banja Luka club.

An identical situation can be seen at two stadiums in Herzegovina: in Mostar when Zrinjski plays and in Široki Brijeg. The BiH Cup final match from May this year, when the home team and Sarajevo played in Široki, is one of the biggest shames since football has been played in this country.

At that time, Široki fans booed the BiH anthem, flags of the former criminal NDH could be seen in the stands, the worst possible insults were directed at Sarajevo players, and the match delegate saw and heard nothing. The Association remained silent, only condemning the events at the Pecara stadium a day later under great public pressure.

The Široki Brijeg stadium was soon suspended for eight matches without spectators, but then the summer break in the domestic championship followed, so the BiH Football Association, presumably thinking the public had already forgotten the unpleasant scenes from the match, reduced the punishment for Široki, or better said, rewarded classic fascism and thus sent a message that fascism pays off.

Referee Ognjen Valjić from Banja Luka interrupted a match at Koševo between Sarajevo and Leotar four years ago due to a banner by Sarajevo fans reading “Armija RBiH” and a flag with lilies, and did not allow the match to continue until the banner was removed. How is it possible that matches are interrupted because of a flag under which this country was admitted to full UN membership, while a flag under which genocide was committed in World War II flies completely freely?

Other stadiums in BiH are not immune to expressions of nationalism either, but, without any exaggeration, these three stadiums lead in this regard.

It is simply unbelievable that the Disciplinary Commission of the BiH Football Association imposes higher fines for one or two flares in stadiums than for publicly expressing hatred and glorifying fascism and war criminals.

The BiH Football Association has so far shown no serious intention to deal with fascist phenomena in our stadiums, and it is truly hard to believe that anything will change for the better in the future, knowing that the Association's bodies that should oversee this are mostly composed of representatives of the clubs that should be punished.

Probably, in the future, for the people in the BiH Football Association, lighting a flare will be a greater offense than calling for killing, slaughter, and rape.