The war over KK Partizan: Between the regime and the fans

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, apparently, has not yet arrested the perpetrators who beat Partizan fans in the match against Paris (October 24). Or at least the news of the arrest was not released.

The footage from the hall is clear., and several bullies were also identified by the editorial office of "Vremena". One of them is TK from Kosovska Mitrovica, whom a "Vremena" source says is a "classic guy". Some claim that he lives in a tent camp between the Presidency and the Serbian Parliament.

The other attackers from the hall have a similar profile - they deal with petty crime and support the authorities so they don't go to prison. They beat those who chanted that evening against President Aleksandar Vučić or in support of the students.

Silent war

That incident was the beginning of a silent war in the triangle of the majority of fans, the regime and the president of the basketball club, Ostoja Mijailović, who found himself between two fires, the club he loves and the system in which he got rich. He was clearly threatened by Informer and other addresses because Arena constantly chants the same thing when Partizan plays.

"Vreme" in its new issue (on newsstands from Thursday, November 6) investigates what happened there and how the game could unravel.

Partizan announced that the entrance to the hall was forbidden to the six participants of that incident, and the controls at the entrance were visibly strengthened. As we find out, although the initials have not been disclosed, those six are batterers, not people who were just defending themselves.

Attempts to swim

On the other hand, fan Velimir Đurović, who brought in an allegedly controversial banner of support for students that day, had his season ticket revoked.

"I'm not a fool, it's clear to me that Partizan doesn't have full control over what's happening in the hall and that it's trying to swim," Đurović told Vreme. But he adds that Mijailović still listens to the "big boss", and at the same time he is "looking for a lifeline" for the time when there are changes in the state.

Although mostly anti-regime-minded, the fans are also divided. And one source from the club says in the vernacular: "In short, whoever arrives, everyone has an agenda, and most of them don't really care if the club will succeed."

***Read the entire article in the new issue of "Vremena" from Thursday (November 6) or **subscribe to the affordable digital edition