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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia will do everything to suppress violence at sporting events

Belgrade, 7 March 2013

Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic stated today that Serbia will do everything to curb hooliganism at sporting events in order to avoid the possibility to be excluded by UEFA from international competitions at the level of clubs and national teams.

Grigoriy Surkis, left, and Ivica Dacic

Dacic said at a joint news conference with member of the Executive Committee of UEFA Grigoriy Surkis, held after their meeting, that, if that happens, the example of UEFA will be followed by the International Football Federation (FIFA) and Serbia will remain isolated.

According to the road map which Serbia submitted to UEFA as a draft plan for addressing this problem, Serbia should establish a working group, Dacic said, adding that it might be done at the next session of the government.

The Prime Minister said that from that point a six-month period will start to run after which UEFA will decide on whether there has been progress in the fight against hooliganism in sport.

As he explained, the working group, which will include representatives of several state institutions and bodies should develop by May a strategy for combating violence in sports and an action plan for its implementation.

He explained that Secretary General of the Serbian government Veljko Odalovic is charged with the formation of the working group, which will include representatives of the ministries of youth and sport, education and science and the interior, the BIA and the Supreme Court of Cassation.

Surkis said that Serbia is a country of exceptional sportsmen, but that it has an evident problem of unpermitted levels of violence and brutality in sports arenas, as well as with the behaviour of Serbian fans outside the country.

He said that UEFA is ready to help Serbia to solve the problem of hooliganism, and that the state must help the Football Association of Serbia to do that.

According to him, a delegation of UEFA will visit Belgrade and Zagreb this month to discuss with relevant authorities on how to make sure that the next football match of teams of Serbia and Croatia goes smoothly.

Surkis welcomed the initiative of the Football Association of Serbia for building a new national stadium, adding that if that facility really gets built, Serbia will be able to run for the host of the finals of the 2020 European Football Championship.