www.cnp.rs<\/a>) within the project \u201cFor sport without violence\u201d, Djordje Vukovic from CeSID said how, no matter what, you can always expect there will be 10% of citizens (in the context of sport events, fans) who will behave anti socially.\u00a0This number corresponds to another one, showing how there are 11% of individuals who perceive themselves as \u201cmost devoted\u201d.\u00a0For them, it is the media to blame for \u201cinflating\u201d the hooligan story out of proportion, just in order to increase their profits.\u00a0Although no direct correlation can be established, several individuals who took part in the focus groups stated their belief that violence is a justified expression of dissatisfaction with the general state of society.\u00a0What the research has also shown is that political orientation plays an important role.\u00a0Those who are violence-prone have a conservative, deeply traditional outlook.<\/p>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tWhat do they have to say of themselves?\u00a0As Vukovic pointed out, taking part in pre-arranged fights is part of the \u201cinherited tradition\u201d and is caused by a \u201cflood of emotion\u201d.\u00a0Group they belong to closely resembles a \u201chierarchical organization\u201d in which \u201cleaders have a vested interest\u201d. Their behavior is \u201ca type of modern chivalry\u201d, despite being \u201csocially undesirable\u201d.\u00a0In few words, there is a \u201cladder\u201d you can climb, while a sense of belonging is guaranteed: therefore, you\u2019re indebted to the group.\u00a0Finally, as true fans, they are expected to fight the system in every occasion.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tHooligans in Serbia do not differ too much from their colleagues in the West and East of Europe.\u00a0They see their identity, way of life, and relationship to other groups as unique and special.\u00a0They may scorn, yet have no issue with benefits of globalization: they bond with groups from other countries, create their own networks, and start resembling a \u201cmodern tribe\u201d. One concern is that in their unforgiving fight against the system, in a context where young people have little space for political expression, hooligans might turn into\u00a0desirable social models.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tFocus groups and in general, research that CeSID had conducted for the NPC is important because it was the first successful attempt to encompass, in one place, a number of persons belonging to fan groups.\u00a0This becomes even more important, as the Action Plan, as well as approach by Serbia\u2019s Ministry of Interior (MoI) was to exclude fans that pose a risk, and include moderate ones.\u00a0Yet, despite the best efforts of the MYS and the Football Association of Serbia (FAS), modest result had been achieved.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tThat is why practitioners in some countries – Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands first – have turned to alternative measures in their attempt to suppress violence. They have tried to facilitate cooperation between fans and their associations (groups), the clubs and law enforcement officials.\u00a0In Germany, these so-called\u00a0fan-projects aim at developing cooperation and exchange of information between key stakeholders. In Belgium, young people are offered alternative ways to express themselves and develop.\u00a0In the Netherlands, clubs are trying to establish relationships with violent groups and individuals, such as – among others – convicted hooligans that are later helped to integrate into society and find work.\u00a0This approach is somewhat reminiscent of the demobilization and reintegration, usually practiced with soldiers of the warring parties.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tThe Groningen football club, with a developed fan culture has implemented the project \u201cfan coach\u201d where rehabilitated, formerly convicted hooligans try to influence young people who are at risk.\u00a0At the same time, other (also convicted) hooligans are offered the possibility to, if they are willing to regularly report to police, may be allowed to come to the stadium again.\u00a0Another, smaller club from the Netherlands, SC Cambuur Leeuwarden has developed an award winning approach where \u201cmentors\u201d who are young volunteers agree to be companions to convicted hooligans, helping them not to fall again under the influence of violent groups.\u00a0Judging by the number of incidents, both teams\u2019 approaches have produced results.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tHowever, alternative approaches have often been criticized by public as \u201ctoo soft\u201d.\u00a0It is not easy to determine whether they have achieved the desired effect of prevention or not.\u00a0Practice in the Netherlands has shown that, while certain success may be achieved with young people, on a \u201cdedicated\u201d or \u201ccareer\u201d hooligan projects like these can have little impact. Precisely the Dutch experience, of a developed country, a stable and rich society, high quality football\u00a0competition, strict laws, effective judiciary, and so on, has shown that we must always reckon with individuals on whom no initiative or alternative approach can have an impact.\u00a0For them, the violent confrontation represents an end in its own right; since they have developed the perception of \u200b\u200btheir group as elite, the last one standing and not afraid of confronting law enforcement agencies within an organized society.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tNumerous obstacles stand in the way of implementing these solutions in Serbia.\u00a0As we noted above, it is necessary first to exclude offenders, which requires the courts and judiciary – often rated as the weakest link in state\u2019s response to violence – begin to process cases more quickly. Then, it will take considerable investment in the infrastructure of sport facilities – stadiums and indoor arenas.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIn doing so, particular experiences of developed countries will not be easy to implement.\u00a0For example, in Northern Ireland, the initiative to introduce a Code of Conduct came from the fans themselves.\u00a0They did this because they were tired of sectarian violence that made supporting the national team impossible.\u00a0This sea change in terms of atmosphere had attracted entire families.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIt is up to the clubs to consider best ways of including fans not only in management structures, but also decide whether it is possible for fans to become owners of a certain (usually fixed) share of the club.\u00a0This practice, developed in Germany, guarantees club\u2019s \u201crelationship\u201d with its \u201cbase\u201d; in turn, fans themselves become more interested in high quality competition, raising the security of event to a higher level, and bringing more spectators to the stands, which all results (ideally) in higher profits.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIt seems, however, that the ugly image sent from Genoa finally influenced the decision makers in Serbia to devote more attention to the problem of violence in sport.\u00a0In recent months, the Council for the Prevention of Violence chaired by the Prime Minister accepted the \u201cUEFA conclusions\u201d (a list of recommendations compiled by Council of Europe expert group) for further work to combat violence.\u00a0First step towards creating a professional steward service was made through a Rulebook initiated by the MoI.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tFirst bans on attending sport events were imposed on convicted hooligans.\u00a0The National Football Information Point was formed, with police officers working in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Nis.\u00a0Changes to the Criminal Law and Law on Criminal Procedure were announced, with the purpose of enabling the prosecutor\u2019s office to open and conduct investigations by using special investigative techniques. Taton case has shown that, when there is sufficient will,\u00a0time prior to trial can be shortened.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIn particular, Red Star Belgrade adopted in May 2011 the first Rulebook attempting to regulate relations between this football club and its supporters.<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIt is now necessary to complete cases pending in courts after years of delay, ending the debate in which acts of violence are being made irrelevant.\u00a0In particular, it is important to end the conflict between the two biggest clubs – the Red Star and the Partizan – which has been going on for years, making it difficult for any action to be implemented.\u00a0It is necessary to emphasize the positive examples, to help regulate the fan movement in smaller communities, and it appears that local governments – not just the Government in Belgrade – in conjunction with sport associations must take a greater share of this burden.\u00a0Finally, because violence occurs after a personal decision is made within a specific, high-risk group, it is necessary to increase the effort invested in work with children.\u00a0We all have to move forward, from\u00a0ad hoc<\/i>\u00a0campaigns to a more systematic response to violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
01. november 2011.Marko Savkovic, Researcher, BCSP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":15792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8597,8591],"tags":[264,5181,5857,7679,7678,7675,7677,5830,7674,7676,622,7548,7681,7673,7555,3128,7461,4848,7680,7672],"vrsta":[9441],"pdfpub":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-17043","publikacija","type-publikacija","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountability","category-serbian-security-policy","tag-264","tag-ldquo","tag-belgrade","tag-convicted","tag-developed","tag-first","tag-football","tag-group","tag-groups","tag-hooligans","tag-marko","tag-november","tag-people","tag-possible","tag-researcher","tag-savkovic","tag-serbia","tag-sport","tag-themselves","tag-violence","vrsta-analysis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacija\/17043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publikacija"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacija\/17043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17043"},{"taxonomy":"vrsta","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vrsta?post=17043"},{"taxonomy":"pdfpub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pdfpub?post=17043"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezbednost.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}