FIFA Warns Serb Hooligans of Points Deductions

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Serbia have been warned they could be docked points if there is further crowd trouble in their remaining World Cup qualifiers. A Toulouse fan died after being attacked in Belgrade attending a Europa Cup match against Partisan Belgrade. But violent incidents surrounding Serbian football have not been restricted to club matches.

Serbian Angst against the World Fueled by Historical Grievances?

Serbia was widely seen as the transgressor in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s where it tried to keep other former Yugoslav territories, Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia under Serb control. After those attempts failed, ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina embarked on a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing to rid parts of Bosnia of Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, and ethnic Croats. Only military intervention by the United Nations, led by US President Bill Clinton, prevented the killing as Serbian capital Belgrade was bombed. Later on, the Serbs resorted to more violence to keep the province of Kosovo in the Serbian Federation. Kosovo is 90% ethnic Albania but the territory is integral to Serb’s notions of nationhood after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 where a Serb army defeated the forces of the Ottoman Empire.

The eradication of Serb hegemony over its neighbours has emasculated Serb national self confidence and led to the rise of far-right wing gangs who harbour a chronic distrust of foreigners. Recent Serb elections have shown a willingness of the Serb nation to move towards a more pan European concept of nationhood but the sentiment of xenophobia remains on the fringes, arguably more in Serbia than in any other Eastern European nation.

FIFA have already fined the Serb FA $40,000 for incidents in all their previous world cup matches against France, Austria and Romania, and now they have finally lost patience.

Once more, the authorities have stepped in ahead of a match with Romania. FIFA has warned the Serbs that any further violence on Saturday or against Lithuania four days later could have serious consequences and lead to points deductions.

“The FIFA disciplinary commission reminds the Serbian Football Federation (Fudbalski savez Srbije) that the recurrence of such incidents could lead to drastically more serious sanctions, and that includes the subtraction of points in the current qualifiers,” read a letter from FIFA posted on the FsS website.

Serbia of course isn’t the first country to find far right elements using the canvas of world football to commit racially motivated assaults. During the 80s and 90s, the England football team had a large Neo Nazi following who regularly cause havoc all over Europe. In Euro 2004, UEFA threatened to throw England out of the tournament if there was any further trouble during their stay in the tournament. To the relief of all, they lost 3-2 to Romania and were eliminated.

Serbia are currently top of Group Seven, four points clear of France, and any deduction could see them miss out on an automatic World Cup spot and into a play-off.

Italy to Joburg, France to a Play-off?