Criminal Careers of Football Club Fan Leaders in Serbia

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the criminal activities of fan group leaders in Serbia. The data used for the research are contained in the police data base Records of extreme fans, which is kept by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia. The research sample included 30 leaders of fan groups from six football clubs of the first national football league, and focused on their criminal records, whereas all crimes for which criminal charges were brought were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The goal of the research was to study the criminal activities of fan group leaders and highlight the possible influence on fan group members. The results have shown that fan group leaders are inclined to commit crimes, with more than one third having drug-related criminal charges filed against them. Criminal charges for property crimes have been brought against 22 of the 30 leaders included in the sample, and three leaders committed homicide. One fan group leader was murdered. The results show significantly that future research should pay more attention to criminal activities of fan group leaders. The inclination to commit crime is an important fact which should be taken into account when planning control and drawing programs aimed at preventing football-related violence.