12 years since the death of Željezničar fan Aner Kasapović

On 20 August 2005, one of the fans of the Sarajevo football club Željezničar, a member of the fan group "Manijaci", Aner Kasapović, passed away.

Aner succumbed on the way to the hospital, from wounds and blows inflicted on him by Zenica police officers in Zenica, during the return of the "Manijaci" from the match between Čelik and Željezničar.

After the match Čelik - Željezničar, the police of the ZE-DO Canton escorted the Željo fans to the place where their private vehicles and buses were parked. On that occasion, one fan was hit in the head with a hard object, and a group of fans helped him.

That group lagged behind the column of fans due to the incident, and the police officers urged them to hurry, to which Aner Kasapović replied that he was a heart patient and could not go faster. The police officers then knocked him to the ground and kicked and beat him with batons.

On the way home, somewhere near Rajlovac, Kasapović suffered a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital.

A later autopsy confirmed excessive blows, and a medical expert report showed that the heart attack was caused by the blows and excessive excitement of the fan.

According to the "Manijaci", he was the best among them, a man whom no one ever saw frowning, a man with a perpetual smile on his face.

Aner Kasapović was only 26 years old, a senior student at the Higher Medical School. No one was held accountable for his death.

The fans of Željezničar, the popular "Manijaci", have not forgotten Aner, whom they remember at almost every match. Every 20 August, a visit to Aner's family is organised by the fans, and when the football club Željezničar plays a match on that date, the players take to the field in shirts dedicated to the late Aner Kasapović.