SOCIOLOGIST KROLO: WE HAVE A STRUCTURAL SOCIAL PROBLEM

ZAGREB, OCTOBER 17 /SRNA/ - Sociologist Krešimir Krolo, a former member of the Supervisory Board of Split football club Hajduk, said, commenting on the antisemitic and Nazi chants by the Torcida fan group, that Croatia has a structural social problem, of which football fans are just one part.

"They are merely a reflection of what is happening in society at much more important levels, from politics to education. It is important to distinguish the factors that led to this scene," Krolo told Croatian public broadcaster HRT.

He stressed that "we need to start at the top" and seriously consider the consequences of various policies and narratives entering the public sphere.

"I do not think this would have happened if everything we have witnessed in society in recent years had been condemned much more strongly. Politicians have used harsh words against everything representing the opposition, resorting to discrediting, insults and expressions that have no place in the public sphere," Krolo said.

Krolo stressed that one cannot relativize a whole range of issues, "take problematic positions on society's recent history, and then be surprised when things go beyond the limits one had imagined they would stay within".

He added that the phenomenon of Torcida is not an isolated one, but is characteristic of a large part of the football fan scene.

"The easiest thing to do now is to send in the police vans and call for repression. Building a healthier society requires systematic work, primarily in education," said Krolo, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zadar.

He added that he would like to see more specific penalties for inciting hatred and intolerance, but stressed that prevention, rather than repression alone, was also important.

As they made their way to the stadium for Thursday’s match against Ajax on October 15, fans of Split's Hajduk chanted "Auschwitz!", "Wake up, Adolf!" and "Crush the Jews!", while a car carrying a coffin bearing the inscription "Ajax" led the procession.