Soccer and Croatian Nationalism

Abstract

In 1990, the Yugoslav Federation was on the verge of dissolution. Slovenia and Croatia had just voted communists out of power and were threatening to secede. The purpose of this study is to examine the role that soccer played at this critical juncture to bolster Croatia’s efforts to gain independence as well as to inflame ethnoreligious passions that would soon lead to the outbreak of war. By focusing on two soccer matches—one that led to the worst soccer riot in Yugoslavian soccer history and the other that Croats celebrate as the restoration of their national team—this study examines the often intimate relationship between sport, politics, and war.