Football Federation of BiH promotes fascism with penalties and creates new criminals from the stands

Written by Rasim Belko

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Nationalism entered Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 90s of the last century on tanks, leaving deserted places in its wake. On its path, it consumed thousands of lives, plunging mothers and fathers into mourning. It destroyed everything in its way, and broke bridges behind it. Because it could not return to where it came from, nationalism took root in the mud of blood and earth.

It remained in the country of anti-fascists. It revived and mutated in a land that, until yesterday, sent postcards to the world from Kozara and Sutjeska. In a land whose capital city the world came to know through a film that is still admired today.

Therefore, in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, anti-fascism is victorious for those few hundred who visit symbols of past victories. Anti-fascism is also victorious in films.

Fascism has won the battle in real time.

On one side are the black-shirts with symbols of original fascism, embodied by Pavelić, swastikas, symbols of the NDH and UZP... On the other side are lovers of war criminals, promoters and deniers of genocide, cowards more fearful than a rabbit, who gain "courage" in a crowd and roar "Knife, wire, Srebrenica" and "kill the Turk".

For those unfamiliar, the first chants refer to the greatest crime on European soil - the genocide in Srebrenica, and "kill the Turk" refers to Bosniaks, who for the past 100 years have been labeled as Turks by Serbian politics.

Admittedly, there is also a possibility that they chant "kill the Turk" out of anger, because history says, and genetics confirms, that many Serbs also have Turkish blood.

And all of this echoes in sports arenas, where we often see and hear messages about fair play, sport as entertainment, where it is pointed out that nationalism, racism, and similar phenomena are a scourge, not a pride.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is a little different.

There is a group of people worse than both of the aforementioned categories. Their names are Josip Roso, president of the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Federation of BiH, Nermin Kljajić, first vice-president, Radivoje Lazarević, second vice-president, and members Mehmed Spaho, Mario Bašić, and Goran Kosorić.

In addition to those listed, there is another group led by the president of the Football Federation of BiH, Elvedin Begić, followed by members of the Executive Board of the FF BiH.

New criminals from the stands

The first group, led by Josip Roso, is most responsible for spreading fascism in stadiums. These are people who assess that those who throw about fifteen flares should be punished equally with those who chant "Knife, wire, Srebrenica" or those who wave fascist symbols for 90 minutes in the stadium.

How then can we call the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Federation of BiH anything other than promoters of fascism in BiH stadiums? We can freely call them criminals too. Because those who remain silent and turn a blind eye to fascists who rub salt in the fresh wounds of Srebrenica mothers, Foča women, and other victims, are nothing more than accomplices in genocide and war crimes.

Penalties of a few thousand KM and a ban from one stand are not only insufficient, but shameful and insulting to intelligence. Because those few thousand who, on average, attend Premier League of BiH matches could fit in one stand, so the question arises what is the purpose of banning attendance for one of the four stands.

The governing body of BiH football is clearly blind, because if it had paid a little attention to how UEFA punishes clubs in the region and the rest of Europe for similar messages and slogans, some of our clubs would have long ago been playing in municipal leagues.

But our FFBiH is guided by other motives and standards. Thus, those who pay tribute to genocide victims and those who deny genocide receive equal penalties.

Those who display symbols of convicted para-states are fined the same amount of a few thousand KM, while clubs whose fans display the flag of the Army of RBiH, the only internationally recognized army during the aggression against BiH, have points deducted and the result is decided at the green table.

And this did not start yesterday. It has been like this for years. While victims and criminals are equated in politics and the judiciary, fascism is rewarded with penalties in Bosnian-Herzegovinian football.

The Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina should have long ago asked itself what is the purpose of a competition in which the audience pays more attention to saving their heads than to having fun and enjoying themselves. They should have asked themselves this back on the day Vedran Puljić was killed in Široki Brijeg.

They should have started the fight against fascism as soon as the first match of the joint Premier League was played.

But they didn't, and they still don't ask themselves today what they achieve with the penalties they issue. It's as if they forget that one football match was a prelude to a war that impoverished several countries. And in the stands of that stadium were people who later committed the worst crimes.

Because of this, Elvedin Begić, the Executive Board, and the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Federation of BiH should have been expelled from Bosnian-Herzegovinian football long ago. They allowed, and in a way were accomplices to, fascism and hatred in the stands.

And those who succeed this group of fighters against anti-fascism should, at the beginning of their work, make a decision to punish hooliganism, fascist symbols, and chants in stadiums. Any decision other than one that states hooliganism, fascism, and nationalism mean relegation to the lowest competitive level would only mean a continuation of the policy of the Football Federation led by Begić.

Otherwise, it is only a matter of time before we see a new war in some stadium and express condolences to mothers and fathers whose children's only sin is loving their team and the noble game of football.

It is much harder to treat than to prevent.