A Bad Week For Red Star

December 7th, 2007 | by: Martha | Comments(4)

Man. It has NOT been a good seven days for Red Star Belgrade.

First, there was the horrific attack of a plainclothes cop at the Hajduk Kula match, footage and shocking photographs of which, ripe as they were for (quite reasonable) sensationalizing, went all over the world, and didn’t exactly leave the club (or Serbian football in general) looking very good. The latest is that several men were arrested in the wake of the attack, and at least one will face charges of attempted manslaughter. Whether that will lead to any big picture changes, however, is anyone’s guess. (Based on my personal contextual evidence of the Italian league, I’m going to guess no.)

Then, yesterday, there was a perfect storm of sorts. Most importantly, club general secretary Zoran Damjanovic was arrested, along with three other club officials, though what’s going on depends on what sources you believe. Either this is part of an investigation into the events of the Hajduk Kula match, and Damjanovic is suspected of helping the Ultra bring flares into the ground, or it’s a completely separate matter involving organized crime and questionable transfer practices. Either way, not good. (The club, needless to say, are all about support for their authorities and the actions. Well done, police. *pat, pat*)

Shortly after the arrests, due to local rumors that they were “looking for trouble,” traveling Bolton supporters were held at their hotel by Belgrade police prior to their team’s UEFA Cup match against Red Star, despite the total lack of evidence any evidence of an actual threat. (Again with the terrible PR, for the team and the league.) And, finally, though the match went off peacefully, Bolton became the first English team ever to beat Red Star at home, leaving Belgrade with a 1-0 victory and assuring that the Serbian side will not advance to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.

JEEZ. The good news is that it’s Friday. It can’t get too much worse, right?

Anyone would can fill in any of the ample gaps in the above story, particularly about the arrests, please do so in the comments. I’ve scoured the English-language sources, but there’s just not much to be found.