FIVE YEARS OF FIGHTING Fascism in stadiums: Both the Football Association and the court legitimize it, while journalists are prosecuted!?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

It was 2020 when my colleague published a critical article titled: “The Football Association of BiH promotes fascism with fines and creates new criminals from the stands”.

In the article, he presented a clear value judgment that small fines, or equally strict fines for throwing a firecracker, are treated the same way as those who publicly glorify Balkan war criminals. Even then, he warned that such a practice sends the wrong message and cannot stop the continuous promotion of anti-social and anti-European values in stadiums.

Today, five years later, it is clear that he was completely right. Fines of several thousand marks and bans from attending one stand are not only insufficient but shameful and insulting to intelligence. They practically legitimize the behavior of those who glorify war criminals, while victims and civilizational standards are put aside.

However, the then members of the Disciplinary Commission decided to sue the Novinska agencija Patria and the author of the article, claiming that the criticism directed at them was offensive and unfounded. The court in Mostar ruled in favor of the commission members. The case is currently before the Constitutional Court of BiH.

And that is less important for this article, which is being written due to today's events at the Zrinjski-Posušje match. The referee had to stop the game because the criminal Slobodan Praljak was glorified.

But, what we must pay attention to. The judicial system actually sent a message then, even when the public points out obvious omissions and consequences of inadequate sanctions, that those responsible for their implementation can count on the court's protection.

The Court's decision did not remain without effect. The members of the Disciplinary Commission, encouraged by this stance, continued with the practice of minimal fines. The result is that five years later, and continuously throughout that entire period, various followers and admirers of war criminals have been unhindered in promoting values that are contrary to European standards and civilizational norms in stadiums across the country. Instead of fines serving as prevention and education, they have become an instrument of passive approval of behavior that society must condemn.

This saga shows not only the lack of responsibility of the Football Association of BiH but also the systemic weakness of institutions that should protect society from the glorification of war crimes and violence. Five years after the critical article, we can see that the warnings were more than justified, they were predictive, while the institutions, instead of listening to them, further solidified wrong practices through a judicial decision.