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Bosnia-Hercegovina vs. Yugoslavia - game or part of election campaign?

Who Do We Support Here?

After numerous appearances in the media, it seems it hasn't occurred to anyone that there is a law and legal procedure, according to which attackers are to be prosecuted; ten days after the incident no one recalled the name of the elderly man who died in Banja Luka after a beating. Soon, no one will be able to recall the name of the young man who lost an eye after being beaten in Sarajevo, after the game. Nevertheless, both after the Ferhadija incident and the game in Sarajevo, many were happy with the consequences

by Igor GAJIC

Reporter, Banja Luka, Srpska, B-H, August 27, 2002

Probably only in Bosnia-Hercegovina slogans of sports fans provoke confusion. A random passerby would almost certainly have to ask for clarification: "Who do we support here?" For those in the know, everything is clear. After the game of national soccer teams from FR Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, the confusion about the "home team" and ensuing problems are being ignored by the local politicians and representatives of the international community. During the game, it was obvious that supporters from the Republic of Srpska and a part of the Federation BH have very different idea of the identity of the "home team". That is not all, because in the part of the Federation BH with Croat majority, yet another team is welcomed as the "home team". The basic question is why no one among the local politicians is ready to admit this reality, to discuss it, or to endanger his hard-earned position with the international community by commenting on the problem. It is obvious that the majority of our friends politicians realizes that the voters, citizens of this country, are not the force that will keep them in, return them to, or bring them to public office. Most election campaigns still focus on the Office of the High Representative, and almost all of the political parties breathlessly await the most recent public opinion poll conducted by the NDI that will tell them, several days before the election, their political fortune after October 5.

That is why the condemnation of violence after the game coming from the politicians in the Republic of Srpska does not go beyond condemnation of violence, while the reactions from the Federation BH mostly talk about "unruly groups, condemned by everyone". After the events in connection with the laying of the corner stone for the reconstruction of the Ferhadija mosque in Banja Luka, all the relevant factors in the Federation BH hastened to condemn "the horrendous construction named the Republic of Srpska, inhabited by Nazis". Politicians from Srpska took a defensive stance, trying to find space for escape in politics and seeking a convincing excuse for the representatives of the international community.

After numerous appearances in the media, it seems it hasn't occurred to anyone that there is a law and legal procedure, according to which attackers are to be prosecuted; ten days after the incident no one recalled the name of the elderly man who died in Banja Luka after a beating. Soon, no one will be able to recall the name of the young man who lost an eye after being beaten in Sarajevo, after the game. Nevertheless, both after the Ferhadija incident and the game in Sarajevo, many were happy with the consequences. Each one for his own reasons.

Pride: After the Ferhadija incidents, several policemen were fired; Sarajevo denouement will be similar. No one will wonder whether a law aiming to stop all those who deliberately set those people at each other throats should be enacted. Before the game, it was known that the majority of soccer fans from Srpska would support Yugoslavia, if not because they truly love it, than because it is playing against Bosnia-Hercegovina. It was predictable that the reaction to chants "Allah is great" will be chants praising Radovan Karadzic.

Is Reis Ceric [leader of Bosnian Muslims] proud of his youths who were again setting up barricades in Sarajevo "in the name of God", the city that was pushed down a deadly path ten years ago by similar barricades? Was he proud of his attacks on Slobodna Bosna? Was he proud of condemning all Serbs as fascists? Will Reis Ceric be held responsible for his actions? No, he won't!

He won't, just like no one among those who in the second try laid the corner stone for the reconstruction of the Ferhadija mosque. Several "deviant youths" will be prosecuted. Everyone will condemn them, but none among those who incited them and who continue to lead their nations in the war against those others and those who smile at us from the election billboards inviting us to the better future, lying to their voters. That is why perhaps the most honest reaction came from the former Prime Minister of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and the president of the Soccer Association of Srpska, Milan Jelic. The former went to the game to support Yugoslavia, expressing his sentiments, while the latter did not attend the game because he was aware that the game definitely hadn't been organized to prepare the two teams for the forthcoming qualification round for the European soccer championship. The rest, with fake smiles and fake support, prayed to God to provide violence and incidents. It would come handy for the election, and all of them were aware that no one from Srpska would support a team in which Serbs play only because the OHR had decreed so.

Translated on January 14, 2003
Reporter