So on Saturday there was the rival Sarajevo soccer teams game. There are two teams in Sarajevo, FK Sarajevo and FK Željezničar, or Željo. Let me preface with, neither of them are very good. That being said, no one comes to watch the game. Alright, mostly no one. Instead, the die-hard fans in Sarajevo, those that make up the two football factories (Europe's team-based gangs) come to out-do the other side. Sarajevo is from Koševo, my old neighborhood and Željo is from my new 'hood, Grbavica, so obviously I'm cheering for Željo. The game was in the old Olympic stadium in Koševo, so we decided that we would sit on the Sarajevo side, and we all coordinated so that we'd wear neutral colors (neither blue nor red) so that we couldn't be identified with either team. The stadium was way too big for the amount of people there but luckily the hardcore fans were condensed to behind each goal.
Well, as you can see, the spectacle did not disappoint. The crowds were rowdy, although I doubt they were even paying attention to what events took place during the game. There were security check points to get into the stadium and I had my pocket knife (that I carry with me everywhere but always forget it's in my bag) so they confiscated it. And I really couldn't complain, safety first, right? Well, when I see what everyone else managed to bring in, I was kind of like, shouldn't you be giving us pocket knives? But really, nothing was threatening at all. Even on the way out of the game, I thought maybe it might be rough, but it was very quiet. Mostly each side left a different way but then again, it's not even really about the game so I guess it's a good way to get out all the pent up frustration.
They had to stop the games several times when the fans started to throw flares onto the field. They had the police and security there but they weren't fazed. Željo fans were mostly flare-based and military-precision-like cheers. Sarajevo brought out the signs, the toilet paper and fire -- not flares, fire. They stopped the game while fire trucks put out the enormous flames (and then smoke covered half of the field for a while). It was quiet the event to say the least. Very entertaining and although the game ended 0-0, no one really cared.
So on Saturday there was the rival Sarajevo soccer teams game. There are two teams in Sarajevo, FK Sarajevo and FK Željezničar, or Željo. Let me preface with, neither of them are very good. That being said, no one comes to watch the game. Alright, mostly no one. Instead, the die-hard fans in Sarajevo, those that make up the two football factories (Europe's team-based gangs) come to out-do the other side. Sarajevo is from Koševo, my old neighborhood and Željo is from my new 'hood, Grbavica, so obviously I'm cheering for Željo. The game was in the old Olympic stadium in Koševo, so we decided that we would sit on the Sarajevo side, and we all coordinated so that we'd wear neutral colors (neither blue nor red) so that we couldn't be identified with either team. The stadium was way too big for the amount of people there but luckily the hardcore fans were condensed to behind each goal. 
Well, as you can see, the spectacle did not disappoint. The crowds were rowdy, although I doubt they were even paying attention to what events took place during the game. There were security check points to get into the stadium and I had my pocket knife (that I carry with me everywhere but always forget it's in my bag) so they confiscated it. And I really couldn't complain, safety first, right? Well, when I see what everyone else managed to bring in, I was kind of like, shouldn't you be giving us pocket knives? But really, nothing was threatening at all. Even on the way out of the game, I thought maybe it might be rough, but it was very quiet. Mostly each side left a different way but then again, it's not even really about the game so I guess it's a good way to get out all the pent up frustration.
They had to stop the games several times when the fans started to throw flares onto the field. They had the police and security there but they weren't fazed. Željo fans were mostly flare-based and military-precision-like cheers. Sarajevo brought out the signs, the toilet paper and fire -- not flares, fire. They stopped the game while fire trucks put out the enormous flames (and then smoke covered half of the field for a while). It was quiet the event to say the least. Very entertaining and although the game ended 0-0, no one really cared.
