The Srebrenica Memorial Center sent UEFA a formal report against the Football Association of Serbia because of the way it acted after the event at the 180th derby between Red Star and Partizan, when the figure of Ratko Mladic was shown in the stands with the message “Potočari direction”.
On September 7, the Memorial Center asked the Football Association of Serbia to initiate disciplinary proceedings for glorifying a person legally convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as for a message directly related to Srebrenica and Potočari. In the report, the obligation of the FSS to consider the case through the anti-discrimination provisions of its own disciplinary rules and UEFA standards was specifically pointed out.
However, in the subsequently published decision of the FSS, Crvena Zvezda was sanctioned for failings in the organization of the match, inadequate search of fans, delay in the start of the match and use of pyrotechnics. There is no indication in the published decision that the depiction of Ratko Mladić’s character and the message “Direction Potočari” were treated as a separate disciplinary offense.
Because of this, the Memorial Center asked UEFA to investigate whether the Football Association of Serbia failed to adequately process a serious case of discriminatory behavior and whether the obligations that FSS has as a member of UEFA were thereby violated.
In the application to UEFA, the relevant anti-discrimination standards of European football were pointed out, as well as the Fare Network guide on discriminatory practices, which especially emphasizes the importance of context, symbols and glorification of convicted criminals when assessing discriminatory messages in stadiums.
The Memorial Center requests that UEFA obtain the complete file of the Football Association of Serbia, determine whether the allegations from the application from September 7 were considered at all, and investigate the possible responsibility of the FSS, the club and the responsible persons.
“Sanctions for pyrotechnics or organizational failures cannot be a substitute for proceedings for glorifying a person convicted of genocide. We expect UEFA to determine why the message ‘Pravac Potočari’ and the glorification of Ratko Mladić did not receive a clear disciplinary response,” said the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
