Although in the light of the October events in Serbia, dealing with this issue might seem fashionable, the problem discussed in this paper is not a new one. It has been present for years now. From 2000 until today alone, as a result of violent behaviour at sport events Serbia saw death of seven persons. However, this paper deals with the issue of sport violence in a different manner focusing on the prevention of hooliganism at the regional level (that is, in the Western Balkan countries),¹ through the improvement of information exchange. In that regard, the authors of this paper...
There is no precise definition of the hooligan violence and hooligan behaviour at matches. However, distinction should be drawn between spontaneous, relatively isolated incidents of spectator violence and the behaviour of socially organized or institutionalized hooligan groups (Giulianotti 2001: 141). In environments where attacks on match officials and opposing players present a part of the ʺfolkloreʺ, the inter-fan group fighting and fighting between fans and the police became the predominant form of spectator disorderliness (Dunning 2004: 136). As a rule, this shift has spread throughout Europe, and it was just a matter of time when it will occur in our...
The current debate on the prevention of violence at sports events, generated by the incidents over the past two years and the initiatives for organizing joint ʺBalkanʺ sports tournaments, requires a dual analysis. To begin with, it is necessary to assess the current state of affairs and identify key problems. Then, it is important to initiate public debate in order to develop clear and detailed proposals for prevention of incidents and escalation of violence at sports events.
The first part of this paper briefly dealt with the main findings regarding the current situation in Europe and particularly in Serbia. In...
The main goal of this paper was to encourage discussion about the lack of the regional co-operation framework in the fight against hooliganism and violence at sports events of an international character. The incident in Genoa in October 2010 prompted the authors of this paper to further explore EU mechanisms for sports violence prevention. Given that copying one mechanism from one geographic area to another is not considered the best option, we have proposed a model which could (and indeed should) become a matter of discussion.Certainly, the proposed solution is not a definitive one; however it presents a solid ground...