Football can learn a few things from other sports. Goal line technology, after being implemented in Rugby, is on the forefront of everyone's lips today. Salary caps are being re-considered and used in the MLS as several other sports are using them to keep clubs fiscally healthy. Another theory considered by many people is amagalism, the joining of leagues, especially in the former Yugoslav Republics. The inspiration of this comes from the successful Adriatic Basketball League (ABA), which has increased the standard of basketball in the former Yugoslavia along with being a commercial achievement. Three years ago foreign delegates visited FIFA to discuss the issue, suggesting that the Yugoslav republics join their leagues together. But is this really a viable option? Will amagalism improve domestic football in the Balkans or will the nationalist Ultras tear it apart?
If a general Yugoslavian league were to be created, it would have to be different from how the current ABA league in basketball is run. The ABA is a franchise-run league which clubs compete in along with their national leagues and Euroleague (Champions League) in the offseason. Franchising is when clubs are picked to participate, not via a relegation-promotion system found throughout Europe, but by clubs being invited to the league prior to when the season starts. The issue with franchising is that it can only be used if the Yugoslavian-wide league is run along with national division, as it will leave a relegation-promotion system operating in domestic competitions which will form the bulk of a club's season. If clubs only participate in a Yugoslavia-wide league, the league won't benefit smaller clubs as they won't have a chance to participate in it due to the franchising system. That said, the lack of relagations will mean that clubs have a stable income, as they won't have to worry about dropping out, leaving them to spend money on such things as much-needed infrastructure.
Another issue needed to be sorted out is whether the league will be short and running parallel to national championships, or will it form the actual league championships clubs participate in. A shorter league could be run like the Baltic League or King's Cup in Scandinavia, in that the highest placed clubs in each national division would qualify for the championship. This, however, would put a strain on the clubs, especially as the time they can play is cut short by long winters, which has adverse effects on th poor pitch conditions.
A full league system will means the bigger teams will play against each other more, improving the low attendances as old rivalries such as Crvena Zvezda - Dinamo Zagreb can be relived. A longer league will also benefit more clubs as more clubs would participate. National divisions can still exist, but as second or third tier divisions if a relegation-promotion system is utilated. A full league system will reap greater benefits, but the independence of the football federations will be put under question.
Currently, football in the Balkans is played at a very poor standard when compared to Communist times. One reason for this is that under Communism, proffesional players were not allowed to leave their domestic leagues until they were 28, leaving talents such as Dragan Džajić, Darko Pančev and Safet Sušić to play their best years in Yugoslavia. Furthermore, the best teams throughout Yugoslavia played against each other, while today teams like Dinamo Zagreb only play against other Croatian teams. A league for all the Yugoslavian countries will increase the quality of football as there will be better clubs for the amount of places available. Another issue it could solve is poor attendances. Attendances throughout the Balkans rarely reach 10,000 for domestic games, leaving stadiums such as Hajduk Split's 38,000 seater Poljud stadium redundant. More fans will watch games if the quality of football is improved and they can watch big teams such as Crvena Zvezda and Dinamo Zagreb play against each other. Instead, Crvena Zvezda fans await Javor, a team from a town of just 12,000 souls, in the Serbian SuperLiga.
One obvious problem would be the nationalist tensions in matches between clubs from different nations. Many people believe that the Yugoslavian wars of the 1990's started with the infamous Dinamo - Crvena Zvezda match of 1991, where rioting fans interrupted the match, leaving many people stabbed, shot and blinded by tear gas. Many nationalist sentiments are still present throughout Yugoslavia today and are present in football matches in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where clubs representing different ethnic groups come to meet each other. The result involves fights between the opposing teams Ultras, many ethnically fuelled, but the situation is improving. For a pan-Yugoslavia league to work the police need to be well prepared and aware of the troubles that they may face, but it will be hard for them to prevent every possible trouble.
Overall, a pan-Yugoslavian league can work, but it relies on the attidutes of the natives to ensure incidents do not become aggravated.
No comments:
Post a Comment