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The recent death of war criminal Ratko Mladic has sparked controversial displays in the stands

By RICHARD MILLS

Red Star Belgrade made international headlines in September when the club’s ultras displayed an enormous tifo of recently deceased war criminal Ratko Mladic. Unfurled during a minute’s silence before the Belgrade derby, the display explicitly evoked Mladic’s command of the genocidal Srebrenica assault in the final months of the Bosnian War, when some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred.

In neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina another club are mired in the Mladic controversy. Reigning champions Borac Banja Luka represent Bosnia’s second city, which – since the 1990s – is the administrative capital of Republika Srpska, the fiercely autonomous entity forged by General Mladic’s Bosnian Serb army.

During the Yugoslav era, Borac proudly represented a diverse city that was home to a blend of Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats. Their greatest achievement came in 1988, when their multiethnic side beat Red Star to win the Marshal Tito Cup. In Yugoslavia’s twilight years, the club’s ultras – the Vultures – espoused a cosmopolitan, pro-Yugoslav identity, and publicly condemned surging nationalism.

In a 1992 referendum boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, voters backed Bosnia’s independence from disintegrating Yugoslavia. The ensuing multifaceted conflict saw Mladic’s forces “ethnically cleanse” territory on a vast scale to carve out a homogenous Serbian homeland. Many of Banja Luka’s non-Serb inhabitants were expelled and the city’s historic mosques were destroyed.

As conflict raged, Borac underlined the Bosnian Serb commitment to Yugoslavia by remaining in the much-reduced federal league alongside clubs from Serbia and Montenegro. The club evolved into a nationalist bastion, with a new emblem incorporating the Serbian tricolour. Simultaneously, the Bosnian Serbs launched their own wartime football tournaments, with senior officers from Mladic’s army awarding trophies.

The internationally brokered Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995 recognised the new Bosnian Serb state but insisted it remain part of an independent, externally supervised Bosnia. Republika Srpska, with its overwhelmingly Serb population, became a reluctant partner in an uneasy federal state shared with the Muslim and Croat majority Federation. Today, Srpska’s government buildings tower over Borac’s stadium.

Since 2002, when Serb clubs reluctantly joined a combined Bosnian Premijer Liga, politics has been ever-present in stadiums. The initial season was marred by the Vultures’ sinister chants about Srebrenica. Nevertheless, Borac – “Fighter” – have won four titles.

Mladic was indicted for war crimes in 1995 but lived for years as a fugitive before being finally convicted in The Hague in 2017. As champions Borac kicked off the 2026-27 season, the Vultures goaded visiting Velez Mostar with odes to the gravely ill and imprisoned general. The referee halted play, only resuming once the offending terrace had been emptied.

The Vultures displayed a slogan rich in religious and national symbolism

On the day Mladic died, Borac played a Conference League qualifier against Vikingur Reykjavik. The Vultures displayed a slogan rich in religious and national symbolism, which ended: “Eternal glory to the greatest defender of the Serbian people!” It is a criminal offence to glorify convicted war criminals in Bosnia and federal prosecutors have initiated proceedings against multiple Bosnian Serb politicians for expressing admiration for Mladic’s wartime exploits. Regardless, the Vultures stepped up their actions against arch-rivals Zeljeznicar, from Muslim-majority Sarajevo, with a large Serbian tricolour motif featuring Mladic’s penetrating eyes.

Borac have been sanctioned by UEFA, with a fine of €30,000 (£25,600) and a partial stadium closure, while the Bosnian FA dished out miniscule fines for domestic league infringements (ranging from €1,500 to €2,500 ). Journalists allege that Borac receive preferential treatment, highlighting the fact Bosnian FA president Vico Zeljkovic used to be the president of Borac and is a vocal advocate for Republika Srpska. Zeljkovic is related to Bosnian Serb politician Milorad Dodik, who threatened to declare independence before being forcibly removed from office last year.

Mladic was accorded military honours at a grand funeral in Belgrade. Among the mourners were senior politicians from both the Serbian and Republika Srpska governments. Days later, during the Sarajevo derby between Zeljeznicar and FK Sarajevo, home fans expressed their thoughts on those venerating Mladic. Condemning the glorification of Srebrenica, they unveiled the slogan: “Europe knows, but won’t recognise, that the Greater Serbian ideology is a source of terrorism.” At the same time, they yelled expletives at Mladic and cried: “May the dark earth devour you!”

It is bitterly ironic that Borac – an icon for many of the Bosnian Serb rejection of a shared Bosnian state – will represent Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Conference League this autumn.

Serbia & Bosnia