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Photo Daily: Belgrade Derby

Tom Dunmore — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:02:35 +0000

Red Star Belgrade vs. Partizan Belgrade, November 28, 2009

Photo credit: the ever amazing photoreti on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool. The notorious derby did not go off without trouble, as 40 were arrested on Saturday. Partizan won 2-1.

Photo Daily | December 8 | Red Star Flares on the Pitch

Tom Dunmore — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:19:41 +0000

As we end this week’s look at Serbian football, it’s appropriate to finish with this shot of flares littering the pitch at Red Star Belgrade’s Marakana stadium, as this series was sparked (pun intended) by the attack on a policeman with flares there last weekend.

Photo credit: JonHall on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Photo Daily | December 6 | Belgrade Scarf Battle

Tom Dunmore — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:18:15 +0000

Thanks to the photos of Jon Hall on Flickr, we bring you the first ever Pitch Invasion scarf battle from Serbia. It’s “the eternal derby” in Belgrade, 24th February 2007 .

First, Red Star Belgrade fans:

Second, Partizan Belgrade supporters:

Photo credit: JonHall on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool. The photographer is also responsible for terraceimages.com, a site I highly recommend stopping by.

Photo Daily | December 5 | Red Star’s North End

Tom Dunmore — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:58:01 +0000

Another superb shot by Jon Hall of the North End of the Marakana, home of Red Star’s fiercest supporters.

Photo credit: JonHall on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool. The photographer is also responsible for terraceimages.com, a site I highly recommend stopping by.

Photo Daily | December 3 | Red Star Flares

Tom Dunmore — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:08:37 +0000

Given I’ve unilaterally declared Serbian football to be in crisis, after a policeman was burned with flares at a Red Star game along with several other problems this week, I thought we’d look at Serbian football this week.

And why not start fittingly with Red Star fans, and their love of pyrotechnics? From their derby with Partizan, last May.

Photo credit: belgrade2.0 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Serbian Government Promises Repression In Response to Attack on Policeman

Tom Dunmore — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:39:14 +0000

Yesterday, we reported that after fans of Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade uncovered a policeman covertly filming them in the stands, they responded by attacking him with flares. His clothes were set on fire, he was beaten with chairs, and he was left badly burned and bruised.

Some fans are pointing out that he did not help matters by firing warning shots from his gun, given the death of Italian ultra Gabriele Sandri a few weeks ago from what was reported as a policeman’s “warning shot”. Riot police then moved in on the fans, and three were arrested.

The good news to report today is that the policeman is in a stable condition in hospital. The bad news is that in my view, the words of the Serbian government sound like they could lead to more conflict and trouble.

Sports and youth minister Snezana Samardzic-Markovic told Reuters that “While educational measures are desirable, repressive action is necessary and police have no choice but to act swiftly and decisively while the justice ministry should do the same.”

Serbian football is in a state of crisis, under suspicion by UEFA for involvement in match-fixing, in conflict over the causes of the failure to qualify for Euro 2008 (the sporting director, former Juventus player Zoran Mirković, resigned last week), and on Saturday the game between Mladost and Bežanija was abandoned when the visitors’ players walked off after two of their players had been sent-off and a penalty was awarded against them. The game was abandoned.

In the comments to the previous post, the question of whether Serbia should be banned from UEFA was brought up and debated. Is that the right response? Is repressive action the answer as the government says?

Red Star Fans Pelt Policeman With Flares

Tom Dunmore — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:47:53 +0000

Serious trouble erupted in Serbia and Greece this weekend.

As Red Star Belgrade took on Hajduk Kula in the Serbian first division, a policeman was seriously injured after fans spotted him filming them in plain clothes.

The policeman (right) fired two shots into the air after he had been hit with burning flares, his clothes setting on fire.

“The fans recognised a police officer on duty wearing plain clothes and attacked him,” police commander Borivoje Tosic told Belgrade media. “The officer sustained serious injuries from burning flares and broken seats and is receiving treatment in hospital.”

Three fans have been arrested after riot police moved in, and the officer is being treated at a military clinic. As far as I can gather, thankfully his life is not in danger.

More photos after the jump. Warning: they show the events graphically.

Meanwhile, in Greece, the game between AEK Athens and Aris in Thessaloniki was held-up for 85 minutes after a flare thrown from the crowd nearly hit AEK’s Traianos Dellas. The referee ordered the AEK fans to leave the stadium, their reluctance leading to the delay.

Bizarrely, it was only weeks ago that trouble had erupted when Red Star visited Aris in the UEFA Cup.