“Pravac Potocari” or “Course Potocari” had been the phrases utilized by former Bosnian Serb basic Ratko Mladic as he entered Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.
Mladic was referring to the close by village of Potocari, which hosted a United Nations peacekeeping base and was the preliminary gathering level for Bosniak refugees through the struggle in Bosnia. Beneath Mladic’s command, Bosnian Serb forces dedicated a genocide in opposition to hundreds of Bosniak males and boys within the days that adopted.
“Pravac Potocari” was additionally the slogan the followers of the Serbian soccer workforce Crimson Star selected on Sunday to honour the so-called “butcher of Bosnia”, who died in The Hague, the Netherlands, on August 27, whereas serving a life sentence for genocide, struggle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity. Throughout a match in opposition to metropolis rivals Partizan within the Serbian capital, the supporters additionally unveiled an enormous picture of Mladic and noticed a minute of silence in his reminiscence.
The tribute got here days after European soccer governing physique UEFA fined Crimson Star a complete of 98,250 euros, or $114,100, over a banner -“Common, everlasting glory and thanks” – devoted to Mladic that was unveiled by the membership’s ultras throughout a Europa League playoff away leg in Plzen, within the Czech Republic.
The penalty included a ban on Crimson Star supporters travelling to the membership’s subsequent two European away fixtures, in Lugano, Switzerland on October 15 and Ghent, Belgium on November 26.
It was not the primary time Crimson Star supporters had expressed assist for Mladic throughout a European match. 9 years earlier, followers displayed comparable messages throughout a Europa League tie in opposition to Belarusian membership BATE Borisov.
‘Most shameful occasion this stadium has seen’
For Slobodan Georgiev, a information director at TV Nova S in Serbia, the minute of silence at Belgrade’s Marakana stadium marked a qualitative shift somewhat than a repeat efficiency.
“Glorifying a convicted struggle legal is nothing new, however formally paying tribute to him with a minute of silence is new – and it’s essentially the most shameful occasion this stadium has witnessed,” Georgiev mentioned. “Displaying the shameful slogan ‘Pravac Potocari’ can’t be justified, although within the coming days we’ll absolutely see makes an attempt to take action.”
He positioned the show in a for much longer lineage. “For the reason that breakup of Yugoslavia, the terraces have served as a recruitment centre for paramilitary formations, and in numerous types that haven’t modified to today,” he mentioned. “The worst messages have all the time travelled by the terraces – all the things the authorities didn’t dare say themselves, they most frequently mentioned by the stands, as they did … on the Crimson Star–Partizan match.”
However what made Sunday’s so-called “everlasting derby” notable was not solely the Crimson Star show.
Partizan’s personal hardcore supporters, the Grobari, had raised their very own banner in tribute to Mladic – studying “Common, thanks” – only a week earlier, on August 31, throughout a Serbian Tremendous Liga match in opposition to OFK Beograd, with Mladic’s flag flying over the north stand for the total 90 minutes.
For Georgiev, the fan teams will not be an autonomous phenomenon, however an instrument. “The state, by its secret providers and thru legal teams, has all the time managed these teams and used them for the worst duties: Mobilisation in struggle, crime in peacetime, and delivering the ugliest political messages,” he mentioned. “A stand that boasts it was based by Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, and that sings in reward of Ratko Mladic with out dealing with any authorized consequence for it, speaks for itself.”
Georgiev was referring to Arkan, the Serbian paramilitary chief whose unit dedicated atrocities through the Yugoslav wars and who, earlier than his assassination in Belgrade in 2000, was intently related to Crimson Star’s hardcore fan base, the Delije – a bunch he’s extensively reported to have helped organise.
‘Clearest indication concern deeply ingrained’
Sasa Djordevic, a senior analyst on the World Initiative In opposition to Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), sees the identical continuity Georgiev described, tracing it again additional nonetheless. “The connection between soccer hooliganism, nationalism and politics in Serbia dates to the late Eighties and have become notably evident throughout and after the breakup of former Yugoslavia,” he mentioned. “Sure parts of the hooligan scene have since been exploited as a political ‘rent-a-mob,’ and a few group leaders have reaped advantages from political safety or enterprise alternatives.”
What worries him most now shouldn’t be the show itself, however how unremarkable it dangers changing into. “Incidents like those who occurred at Marakana final evening threat being perceived as routine somewhat than critical manifestations of hate speech,” he mentioned. “Public debate has practically vanished, and society appears more and more desensitised to violence and hate speech in stadiums. When such behaviour begins to really feel regular, it could be the clearest indication that the difficulty has turn into deeply ingrained.”
Ivana Jeremic, an editor on the Balkan Perception publication, pointed to why sports activities venues serve that perform so effectively. “Stadiums have lengthy ceased to be merely sporting arenas – they’re fertile floor for sending messages that may’t be spoken publicly, or that come wrapped in a softer kind,” she mentioned. “Matches involving Partizan, Crimson Star, and the nationwide workforce stand out particularly for this.”
The political ties, she argued, are an open secret. “The political connections between the followers main the stands and people in energy are one thing of a public secret, with quite a few documented examples of direct affect. What we hear or see on the terraces might hardly occur with out some type of ‘permission’ from the authorities,” Jeremic mentioned. “Relating to Mladic, we’ve seen an increase in such messages in latest days. Crimson Star’s followers, in addition to the membership itself, are at the moment perceived as a mouthpiece of the federal government.”
On Thursday, a Serbian authorities aircraft carried Mladic’s physique from The Hague to Belgrade for burial, the place it was obtained with army honours.
From the terraces to paramilitary buildings
Djordevic traced the mechanism behind this convergence to the identical interval cited by Georgiev. “Through the breakup of Yugoslavia, soccer stadiums turned areas for nationalist mobilisation, and for some younger males the step from organised soccer violence to paramilitary buildings was brief,” he mentioned. “Hooligan teams since then domesticate loyalty, hierarchy, readiness to make use of violence and speedy mobilisation to attain their extremist views that transcend strictly soccer supporter beliefs.”
That construction shouldn’t be distinctive to Serbia, however it’s notably acute there. GI-TOC’s regional analysis examined 122 fan teams, figuring out 78 as ultras – and located 21 teams combining violent hooliganism with hyperlinks to excessive politics. “Probably the most problematic state of affairs was in Serbia, adopted by Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Djordevic mentioned, whereas cautioning in opposition to overreach. “The time period ‘terrorism’ must be used cautiously: The proof factors to explicit teams or people linked to violent extremism and paramilitary buildings, not supporter teams as a complete.”
UEFA’s disciplinary determination detailed the layers of the punishment: A 50,000-euro ($58,000) advantageous for transmitting a message unfit for a sporting occasion, an 8,250-euro ($9,580) advantageous for workforce misconduct, and the activation of a suspended sanction initially imposed in April 2025 over racist conduct by Crimson Star followers – a suspended stadium ban now transformed right into a one-match travelling ban, conditionally prolonged for an additional two years.
However fines on paper, Djordevic mentioned, hardly ever attain the people who find themselves really liable. “The issue is that fines imposed on golf equipment don’t essentially have an effect on these liable for the incidents,” he mentioned. “If hooligans stay untouched, monetary penalties can turn into merely one other value of doing enterprise somewhat than a instrument for altering behaviour. That doesn’t imply golf equipment don’t care. They reply when sanctions are sure, substantial, and constantly enforced, as seen extra clearly in basketball video games than in soccer.”
The hole, he argued, shouldn’t be an absence of guidelines. “Serbia already has a strong authorized framework,” he mentioned. “The true concern is enforcement. Sanctions should be utilized rapidly, constantly and with out exceptions, each to golf equipment and to people liable for violence and hate speech.”
