Supporters of the Serbian football club Red Star unveiled a banner reading “Direction Potocari” and observed a minute of silence in honor of Ratko Mladic during a derby match against rivals Partizan in Belgrade on Sunday. The phrase was used by Mladic upon entering Srebrenica in July 1995, preceding the genocide against Bosniak men and boys.
The tribute marks an escalation in public displays of support for the convicted war criminal, who died in August while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The incident follows a recent UEFA fine of €98,250 against Red Star for a previous banner praising Mladic, which also included a travel ban for supporters.
Slobodan Georgiev, news director at TV Nova S, described the minute of silence as the “most shameful event” the Marakana stadium has witnessed. He argued that the terraces have historically served as recruitment centers for paramilitary groups since the breakup of Yugoslavia, transmitting messages that authorities often dare not voice publicly.
Analysts from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) warned that such incidents risk becoming normalized, signaling that hate speech is deeply ingrained in the culture. Ivana Jeremic, an editor at Balkan Insight, noted that the political connections between fan leaders and those in power are an “open secret,” suggesting that such tributes could not occur without some form of permission from authorities.
Convenience coincided with the return of Mladic’s body to Belgrade on Thursday, where it was received with military honors. Experts emphasize that while Serbia has robust legal frameworks, enforcement remains inconsistent, allowing fines to be viewed merely as a cost of business rather than a deterrent.
This needs to stop. Where is the accountability? Football clubs should be banned from hosting such hate speech.
Will UEFA fines actually change anything? It feels like they just view it as a cheap cost of doing business now.
I was shocked but not really surprised. The connections between these fans and politicians are getting harder to ignore.
Utterly disgusting. Honoring a genocide convict at a stadium sends the wrong message to everyone watching.