BELGRADE -- The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade wrote about ties between mafia and football hooligans in a cable sent in October 2009, WikiLeaks has released.
BELGRADE -- The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade wrote about ties between mafia and football hooligans in a cable sent in October 2009, WikiLeaks has released.
Source: Blic
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The cable describes ownership structure of the biggest Serbian football clubs.
“The ownership structure for Serbia's largest soccer clubs is cumbersome and outdated. They are classified as publicly-owned "community organizations", governed under a 1945 law from the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia that theoretically allows all fans a voice in ownership through electing representatives to a club assembly. This assembly then elects a Managing Board President, who then appoints the rest of the board. Neither club has effective structures to keep track of its membership, creating opaque consortiums of individuals, businesses, and fan clubs to control elections to the fan assembly and managing board, hamstringing management's ability to act independently,” the cable reads.
It adds that “there have been long-standing allegations that representatives in the assemblies of both teams are fronts for mob figures. As a result of these murky ties, individuals from fan clubs have been connected with mob figures and war criminals”.
“Authorities have done little to investigate these allegations and combat corruption in the teams or the fan clubs,” it is said in the cable published by WikiLeaks.
“Accompanying the violence, organized crime syndicates often act as ‘managers’ for players, siphoning off money from the team and the player when a player's contract is sold between teams,” it is written in the cable.
“According to Embassy sources with police contacts investigating the matter, the usual process is for a selling club - on the orders of a ‘manager’ - to conspire with the buying club to pay a given (higher) price for a player's salary and then report another (lower) price to the player,” the cable reveals, adding that “police also said they were very suspicious of the financial backing of some investors in both teams, who had somehow managed to quickly amass great fortunes in recent years from unexplained sources.”
It also points out that “Deputy Prosecutor General Jovan Krstić told us on October 22 that he had asked the Serbian Constitutional Court to ban several football fan groups on the grounds that they were hate groups.”
That probably helps explain why the league has turned to absolute tripe! Whatever happened to the good old days when Zvezda actually won something?!
(Stefan, 11 September 2011 15:08)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
I'd go further then that, I'd say the Kosovo-Albanian government is a mafia group
(New Zealander, 11 September 2011 04:25)
"Nothing new, these ties are known for ages, inofficially.
(Analyst, 10 September 2011 17:36) "
These cables were not intended to reveal secrets to the publics of the respective countries, but to help inform Washington about "what everybody knows" there. I'd be concerned only if there were reports from all over the world that the Americans had no idea what was going on in their particular country. The fact that what we see in the cables and what American diplomats say in public and what the locals agree is old news should be reassuring, except to the conspiracy freaks of the world. (Although these are only "confidential" documents - there's always the chance that the super-secret stuff would be more interesting.)
(Amer, 10 September 2011 20:50)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
It adds that “there have been long-standing allegations that representatives in the assemblies of both teams are fronts for mob figures. As a result of these murky ties, individuals from fan clubs have been connected with mob figures and war criminals”.
“Authorities have done little to investigate these allegations and combat corruption in the teams or the fan clubs,” it is said in the cable published by WikiLeaks.
No, these things don't exist in Serbia. Serbia is full of angels, it must be a mistaken identity!?
(Agim Kelmendi, 10 September 2011 18:22)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
I'd go further then that, I'd say the Kosovo-Albanian government is a mafia group
(New Zealander, 11 September 2011 04:25)
It adds that “there have been long-standing allegations that representatives in the assemblies of both teams are fronts for mob figures. As a result of these murky ties, individuals from fan clubs have been connected with mob figures and war criminals”.
“Authorities have done little to investigate these allegations and combat corruption in the teams or the fan clubs,” it is said in the cable published by WikiLeaks.
No, these things don't exist in Serbia. Serbia is full of angels, it must be a mistaken identity!?
(Agim Kelmendi, 10 September 2011 18:22)
"Nothing new, these ties are known for ages, inofficially.
(Analyst, 10 September 2011 17:36) "
These cables were not intended to reveal secrets to the publics of the respective countries, but to help inform Washington about "what everybody knows" there. I'd be concerned only if there were reports from all over the world that the Americans had no idea what was going on in their particular country. The fact that what we see in the cables and what American diplomats say in public and what the locals agree is old news should be reassuring, except to the conspiracy freaks of the world. (Although these are only "confidential" documents - there's always the chance that the super-secret stuff would be more interesting.)
(Amer, 10 September 2011 20:50)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
That probably helps explain why the league has turned to absolute tripe! Whatever happened to the good old days when Zvezda actually won something?!
(Stefan, 11 September 2011 15:08)
It adds that “there have been long-standing allegations that representatives in the assemblies of both teams are fronts for mob figures. As a result of these murky ties, individuals from fan clubs have been connected with mob figures and war criminals”.
“Authorities have done little to investigate these allegations and combat corruption in the teams or the fan clubs,” it is said in the cable published by WikiLeaks.
No, these things don't exist in Serbia. Serbia is full of angels, it must be a mistaken identity!?
(Agim Kelmendi, 10 September 2011 18:22)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
I'd go further then that, I'd say the Kosovo-Albanian government is a mafia group
(New Zealander, 11 September 2011 04:25)
Oh no!!! Criminal elements in a criminal country; What a surprise!!!
(Pls say it ain't so!!, 10 September 2011 18:28)
Both is bad, but what is better? If football clubs have mafia ties, or if the government has ties to local mafia groups?
(Comm. Parisson, 10 September 2011 19:50)
"Nothing new, these ties are known for ages, inofficially.
(Analyst, 10 September 2011 17:36) "
These cables were not intended to reveal secrets to the publics of the respective countries, but to help inform Washington about "what everybody knows" there. I'd be concerned only if there were reports from all over the world that the Americans had no idea what was going on in their particular country. The fact that what we see in the cables and what American diplomats say in public and what the locals agree is old news should be reassuring, except to the conspiracy freaks of the world. (Although these are only "confidential" documents - there's always the chance that the super-secret stuff would be more interesting.)
(Amer, 10 September 2011 20:50)
That probably helps explain why the league has turned to absolute tripe! Whatever happened to the good old days when Zvezda actually won something?!
(Stefan, 11 September 2011 15:08)