In Southeastern Europe, the twentieth century represents a period of many wars, but we often forget to mention a battlefield that might not have been as bloody: the football field. Sport, sports associations, and clubs have always been of great relevance to the countries of former Yugoslavia. They were culture bearers and history makers.
In this undergraduate thesis, I will focus on football, as it is the most popular sport on earth today and has a rich history in the countries I will be examining: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. I will describe the formation of the first football clubs, the evolution of the competition through the years, the significance of change in the system of government, and the fall of the championship in connection with the fall of the state. I will quickly mention the national team as well and its appearance in the first World Cup in 1930. I wish to present these events from a cultural point of view for a better understanding of the state of football and its clubs in the present. At the same time, it is important to mention how national policies reflected on football in the past and how they still do. By doing so, we will discover the failures of unifying the state’s interests, which led to the collapse of the idea of “brotherhood and unity” and enabled the rise of nationalist ideas, which contributed to the fall of Yugoslavia. As a great example of that, I will present football competitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because of
its ethnic diversity, the country is still having a hard time figuring out how to create a unified championship. In doing so, I will try to conclude if there is an actual need to divide sports competitions.
It might also be worth mentioning the games between present countries, that FIFA and UEFA, as the leading football organizations, do not allow to happen. The non-recognition of Kosovo by Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina plays and important role there. In addition to the banned games, there are also games that are allowed but have led to physical violence between the fans as well as the players in the past.
Towards the conclusion, I will also present the idea of the formation of a new regional
championship in football that would draw inspiration from basketball’s ABA league.
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