Sports and Politics

by Uros Komlenovic

The speaker welcomed prominent guests (Radoje Kontic, Mirko Marjanovic, Dragan Tomic and Aleksandar Bakocevic) from the stage while a group of Red Star club fans shouted "Red Bandits" from the balcony. Interestingly, the 100 or so fans got up the courage to shout their protests although Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan was in the audience

The 50th anniversary celebration of the Red Star sports club began last weekend at a high state level. A club delegation moved Owen, Stoltenberg and other international mediators out of the presidential cabinet for a protocolary meeting with Slobodan Milosevic which resulted in a statement full of phrases like "contributions to our country's reputation in the world" "make this club an important part of society".

The club was also congratulated by Krajina president Milan Martic whose telegram said: "To all of us in the Republic of Serb Krajina, Red Star was much more than an athletic organization. It was an institution which nurtured the awareness of belonging to the Serb nation".

Over a thousand messages poured in from both prominent domestic figures and the likes of Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, and Hristo Stoickov.

Red Star was founded on March 4, 1945 by the central committee of the United Anti-Fascist Youth Alliance but former club "spiritus movens" Aca Obradovic told VREME the club had not strong political backing in the first post-war years.

"Yugoslavia copied the Russian system in everything at the time, including sports. Soccer clubs were set up by state institutions: the army was behind Partizan, the metal workers' union behind Metalac, the police backed Radnicki. Red Star's founders were not particularly influential.

Anecdotes, which should be taken skeptically, say the first post-war Red Star-Partizan games were cheered from the VIP stands (Partizan) and everyone else (Red Star).

In his book Belgrade for Beginners, Bogdan Tirnanic said the existence of two soccer clubs in the same part of town under the rule of one party, one leader and one way of life signified the ability to choose.

Obradovic recalled a club visit to Split when they passed through Knin. Red Star managers had to wake the most popular players to wave at fans from the train "or there would have been trouble". Martic is right in that regard: to the Serbs west of the Drina (especially in Croatia) Red Star was an excuse to stress their national identity.

Over time, Red Star became big. It built the biggest stadium in the country, attracted the directors of Serbia's largest companies and traded places with Partizan on the ladder of power and influence.

The political upheavals in the country reflected on the club; sports rivalry with Hajduk and Dinamo in Croatia turned into mutual nationalist orgies and the latest trends among supporters in Europe caused bloody fights. Also, the popularity of the newly created opposition parties and leaders among supporters made the authorities send their own people in among the fans. The adrenaline flow was turned towards fans from other nations and peace and dignity prevailed at the Red Star stadium. Then the European and World champion titles came. Many fans, still hung over from the title celebrations, ended up in the war zone. Some never came back.