This fact was highlighted a few weeks ago with the passing of Johan Cruyff: never had a player revolutionized the game the way he did. The concept of ‘total football’, whose icon was Cruyff, dominates world football today through the tactics of national teams and local clubs alike.
In short, ‘total football’ means generosity, attack, beautiful play, movement, creativity. Flamboyance. Elegance. Solidarity. It is this spirit that will once again bring joy to millions of fans and spectators across the continent and beyond, gathered around the same passion and a desire to share a moment of celebration and joy.
Opposing this spirit of fraternity is the anthem chosen as the ‘official song’ for the Euro by Croatian supporters and validated by the Croatian Football Federation, which is nationalist, aggressive and violent.
It is a song by ultra-nationalist Marko Perković, nicknamed Thompson, in reference to the machine gun of the same name. A fervent admirer of the pro-Nazi regime of Ustaše, he has often used in his shows the symbols of those responsible for the genocide of Jew, Roma, and Serbs in Croatia during the Second World War.
Glorifier of war crimes, Thompson’s shows were banned from several countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland… The song chosen by the fans to represent Croatia ‘Lijepa li si’ promotes the conquest of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reviving the spectre of war in the Balkans.
Such radical nationalism and xenophobia partially result from the current Croatian Government, which, just like the past ones, refuses to acknowledge Croatia’s responsibility for numerous crimes committed between 1992 and 1994 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though this has been confirmed in numerous cases before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia.
To put it mildly, this song is a genuine call for hate, hate that represents an inacceptable aggression, thus defying the values of fraternity behind the Euro 2016 competition.
To fight nationalism and promote the spirit of ‘total football’ during the Euro, each one of us must get involved.
We firmly request the Executive Board of UEFA to ban this song, which is in direct contradiction to its statutes and its commitment to fight against racism and discrimination.
UEFA should also punish the Croatian Football Federation, complicit of having accepted this call to hate as an official anthem of the national team’s fans.
After FC Barcelona was fined with EUR 30,000 because their supporters had waved with the Catalan flags in the stand, it would be incomprehensible that UEFA remain idle of hate speech and promotion of aggression.
French authorities must ensure the laws are respected and sanction individuals who we are ashamed to call ‘supporters’ and who initiate this call of hate.
Finally, it is the responsibility of all those who love football to drown out this nationalist and xenophobic ‘supporters’ anthem’ through the beautiful songs in the stadiums within the fan zones and in front of TV screens.
It is people who must combat populism. It is the nations who must combat nationalism. It is those who consider themselves democrats, and each one of us, who must fight for democracy,
Let us make sure that the spirit of ‘total football’ triumphs over nationalism during the Euro 2016!
European Grassroots Antifascist Movement – EGAM
Youth Initiative for Human Rights (Croatia)
SOS Racisme (France)
