Politics Sneaks into Euro 2024… Will VAR Intervene?
In the football field, fans await beautiful goals and entertainment, but it doesn’t always go that way, as politics often finds its way into the beautiful game.
This is happening in the Euro 2024 stadiums in Germany, where matches are accompanied by political chants, offensive banners, and the resurgence of regional rivalries among fans around the pitch.
The European Championship has poured fuel on the fire, especially since football is a crucial part of the identity of the Balkans, a region rife with hostilities. Parents sometimes register newborns in their favorite clubs like “Hajduk Split” or “Željezničar Sarajevo” even before getting their birth certificates.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has received complaints from football federations in Balkan countries about offensive political banners and violent chants in the stands and even on the pitch, according to the American magazine “Politico.”
Difficult Chants
For example, an Albanian player was suspended for two matches after shouting “F*** Macedonia” after a match last week, while Croatian and Albanian fans chanted “Kill the Serbs!”
Serbian fans are also under investigation for racial abuse during a match, while Slovenian and Serbian fans alike claimed that “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia.”
These claims deny Kosovo’s independence, suggesting that the newest Balkan state should remain under the control of its northern neighbor, bringing politics and international disputes into the heart of football.
Moreover, extremist nationalist flags redrawing the charged borders of the Balkans were waved in the stands of the Euro Championship, and a journalist from Kosovo was expelled from the tournament for displaying the eagle symbol (a symbol of hostility between Albania and Serbia) in front of Serbian fans and boasting about it online.
This “politically frenzied behavior” from fans coming from the Balkan region reflects the tense political relations between countries in this region, known for their deep hostilities and unresolved bilateral conflicts.
According to “Politico,” the Euro 2024 tournament has allowed these regional tensions to escalate visibly.
In this context, Dario Brentin, a sociologist at the University of Graz in Austria and an expert in football culture in the Balkans, said: “The football stadium is an incredible amplifier of already existing emotions, and these matches do not happen in a vacuum as people follow what happens between their countries daily.”
Brentin added: “The football stadium is a generator of great national pride and, in this sense, it covers the shortcomings or disappointments people suffer in other aspects of life.”
Dark Side
Brentin explained what is happening in the tournament in Germany: “It takes a small group of the most extreme or organized fans to start chanting, and then the collective psychology and euphoria of the moment lead many people to join in without thinking.”
Even the football players themselves have joined these events. Albanian striker Mirlind Daku led the chants “F*** Macedonia!” after the match against Croatia on Wednesday, prompting the North Macedonia Football Federation to file a complaint against him.
On Thursday, Serbian fans chanted in Munich during the match against Slovenia “Luka Dončić is one of us!”, referring to the Serbian ethnic background of the star basketball player who plays for the Slovenian national team.
So far, UEFA has fined the Albanian and Serbian federations 10,000 euros each following their opening matches in the group stage.
These fines are due to fans displaying flags with maps redrawing each other’s borders and banners carrying “provocative messages inappropriate for the sporting atmosphere.”
The fine imposed on Serbia was increased to 14,500 euros due to objects being thrown on the pitch, and the Serbian federation is also under investigation for racial abuse.
Albania faces a total fine of 37,375 euros for pitch invasion and use of fireworks. Several other incidents are still under investigation.
Brentin concluded: “In the end, all these complaints that football federations send to UEFA are not really being looked into.”
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He added: “They seize the opportunity to report their neighbors, without considering that their own fans are doing the same thing or using incendiary language in the stadiums.”
