Football, Business and Politics: Hooligan Diplomacy Replaced Economic

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković discussed the stalemate in which the Croatian consortium found itself in a major deal for the Greek government during bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart. He was accompanied in Athens by Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, Justice and Administration Minister Ivan Malenica, and SOA Chief Daniel Markić. Malenica stated that it is clear that the Greek side is ready for some form of cooperation, meaning they are willing to accept certain guarantees that Croatia provides, but it is up to them to make a decision in the coming days. “We expect a quick, effective, and fair decision,” said Grlić Radman, while Markić added that the goal is to resolve this situation as soon as possible.

Croatia – a lobbying ground

This is, of course, a fabricated news story, as the government has never lobbied in this way for any business venture of our companies abroad. Such a strong team was assembled only to protect a hundred hooligans imprisoned in Greek jails. I do not mean to say that so-called fans should not receive every possible consular assistance from their state. I am merely pointing out the absurdity of spending state political and diplomatic integrity in the wrong place.

State lobbying for economic interests is not unusual. Let us recall the situation in which Angela Merkel lobbied in Croatia for the interests of Hrvatski Telekom, or its owner Deutsche Telekom. We also remember the case in which, under pressure from Hungary, Interpol withdrew the red notice for MOL’s CEO Zsolt Hernádi. At that time, Interpol asked Croatia to commit in advance to cover all costs if the Hungarian entrepreneur sued Interpol.

Such a thing has never been requested from any member state. Lobbying even brought down one Croatian government, the one led by Tihomir Orešković. It all started with Josip Petrović, who worked for MOL. From his dealings with the wife of the then HDZ leader and Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko, the Consultant Affair emerged, which has so far cost Karamarko his political career.

Croatia is mainly an economic lobbying ground, or an object, while the lobbying subject is only in situations that align with the Prime Minister’s European ambitions. The former idea of economic diplomacy has long been swept under the thick Persian rugs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, there is one exception when the government tried to pressure Allianz to take over the Russian stake in Fortenova as part of a pension consortium. But they were not successful there either, and they were met with hostility in the domestic public. It is easier to replace economic diplomacy with the current, hooligan one.

The arrested are not heroes!

If Mihalis Kacuris had not bled to death on the sidewalk that night, the Athenian showdown would likely have remained just another notch in the urban legend of brawls involving the most militant group of BBB supporters. In the meantime, over two weeks, the arrested Croats underwent the usual media treatment. They were first orchestratedly labeled as murderers, only to become ‘our boys’ who have nothing to do with the murder of a Greek citizen in the meantime. The instigators of the unrest became, in the distorted media mirror of social networks, more innocent than the adoptive parents from Congo, who were arrested in Zambia and later released because no illegalities were found in the adoption process.

And here crystallized the division of the Croatian media space – the left glorifies the adoptive parents, while the right glorifies the ‘fans’ who carried sticks with them, as if that is usual and normal, but not knives (with which the murder was committed). A good part of the fan base (not just Dinamo’s) sympathizes with them and turns them into heroes. And they are not, no matter how many posts on social media try to convince us otherwise. They traveled almost 1600 kilometers just to fight (in an obviously pre-arranged showdown) with equally unscrupulous ‘fans’ of AEK, which the Greek police allowed, not counting on the victory of the visiting hooligans, ‘ours’, who were arrested as if they had attacked innocent passersby.

However, the Croatian police only followed the convoy to Athens, with no intention of stopping it, and merely forwarded information eastward. They could have stopped that convoy themselves, as they knew where that team was going and what their intentions were. If they had carefully checked all passports, verified records, and sought additional explanations, they could have held them at the border until the end of the Athens match. But it was simpler to shift the responsibility to other countries and not confront the ‘fans’, as that could backfire in the elections. This way, Plenković (and the head of the Ministry of the Interior Božinović) can appear as Dinamo supporters. However, for the Prime Minister, as a Dalmatian, it was assumed that he supports Hajduk. When he was once asked that question, he diplomatically replied that he supports the national team; just like ‘Brother Tito’, who never revealed which club he supported.

Dinamo without the best ‘nuts’

Meanwhile, alongside Plenković’s ‘diplomatic storm’ for hooligans, there was also a bit of football sport happening these days. In the end, Dinamo dramatically fell to AEK in the Champions League qualifying round, but that story also received an epilogue close to the ruthlessness of business and politics. Coach Igor Bišćan still had ‘support’ from the Management after the match, but by Monday he was a former coach.

Just four and a half months earlier, Dinamo had ‘stolen’ him from the youth national team before the European Championship, and now, according to the same model, they ‘stole’ coach Sergej Jakirović from a competitor – Rijeka – which was left with only accusations of unfairness. And they were angry precisely at the people who had ‘stolen’ the previous coach from Zrinjski in Mostar in the middle of the championship according to the same model.

This is the same model applied in business – the most valuable expert is the one who is taken from a competitor, as this way you strengthen yourself and weaken the competitor. However, there is a problem. The production manager in a factory can slightly improve some processes, but from cheap, poor, and stale nuts, he cannot make good cream. And Dinamo’s coach currently has limited options with raw materials. On Thursday, they will play for the Europa League without at least two of the most valuable, representative ‘nuts’ (captain and goalkeeper Dominik Livaković and central defender Josip Šutalo).

Since Bišćan did not mix the ‘nuts’ inherited from his predecessor too much, it will be interesting to see how Jakirović will organize production in three days. The Management and fans, of course, hope for progress against Sparta from Prague, although for such a ‘raw material base’, the third tier of European competitions, the financially weakest Conference League, would be the right measure. With the primary priority of winning the championship title.