analogheron19 said:Jonathan Hayes76,
I’m only going to touch on one specific part of this whole repressive mess: the crackdown on our trips to play overseas.
For years now, our club has been playing dirty behind our backs. They’ve been sending these formal letters to the home teams and the local police, basically claiming that anyone traveling without being part of their organized groups isn't actually a real fan. Instead, they paint us as nothing more than armed criminals whose only goal is to cause chaos, start fires, destroy property, or worse. It's a complete smear campaign against the actual supporters.
For years, they’ve been rolling out special measures specifically designed to keep us away. We’re talking about court orders banning us from entering Paris, or that time they literally declared a state of emergency in Eindhoven—the first time since World War II—just to make sure any American citizens were legally barred from the entire district unless they were part of an official club delegation. Then there was the ban on Americans entering Albania on match days, or that ridiculous situation in Luxembourg where they actually deployed armored fighting vehicles just to "protect" the locals from the supposed barbarians coming out of Chicago. During those away trips, we were effectively living outside the law. We were treated like nothing more than hunted prey, being arrested, fined, and deported by a joint force of local police and our own cops, acting like we were some kind of terrorists. It happened without exception. For years, people sacrificed everything. They poured their time, their hard-earned money, and their very health into this. They risked their jobs and their families just to show up, refusing to back down. They went everywhere on foot, fully aware that the odds of actually making it into the stadium were one in a thousand.
If anyone can point me toward a single comparable example in the world of football, I’m done. Seriously. I’ll walk away from this place, shut down this forum, and quit the thing I love most in this life—being a fan. Consider it my final ultimatum.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Maybe it’s impossible to make an apples-to-apples comparison because no two situations are ever truly identical. All I’ll say is that those guys have a massive headache when dealing with UEFA, and that isn't something you can just brush off. They’ve been kicked out of European competitions and slapped with penalties before—and if my gut is right, most of that happened because the club simply can't distance itself from the Delije. There’s a level of outside influence on the club that stems directly from that constant struggle.
Maybe you don't realize this, but those Red Star fanatics have somehow managed to exert influence over both the government and the major power players in this country. Honestly, how naive can you be? Thinking that little skirmishes against guys like Danforth, Spasojevic, or even someone like Koch are actually going to change anything... we’re talking about a list of billionaires and corporate titans here. It’s the same story with the politicians—people like Gašić and Vesić—and then you have these "legends" who aren't worth much, just puppets being implemented into organizations like Mamić was into Dinamo. Do yourself a favor and actually look into what these people have done and what they intended to do. Once you see how much actual power they wield, you'll realize how delusional these fights really are.
Just thinking back to last season, I recall those guys having three different European away games banned—including that trip to Paris you mentioned, though we both saw how much of a disaster that turned out to be. Two years ago, it was like they were putting up "wet floor" signs all over the city just to warn people about certain groups arriving, or posting notices that shops had to shut down because of them. Honestly, do you really think there’s any place where those people show up without the local police rolling out their absolute best tactics? Do you honestly believe they aren't being arrested, fined, or deported at a rate similar to the Bad Boys? I couldn't say for sure, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Back in the early days, they handed out something like 190 bans right off the bat and just kept on rolling. Sure, they fell behind schedule because of it, but it was worth it to prove that all the stuff you guys keep claiming is "untouchable" actually carries consequences here. You really have no idea how deep this goes. At one point, even posting a flag was strictly forbidden, people were getting flagged for verbal offenses, and there were even attempts to use the Supreme Court to shut down specific groups entirely. It’s absolute madness. Honestly, you could go check the archives yourself—or ask a hundred other people—to verify everything I'm saying, and you'd find I'm not even scratching the surface of the real story.
Look, I’m just saying you guys are totally exaggerating when you claim you’re the only ones going through hell while everyone else is living the dream. It's just not true. Take the last championship in France, for example—your country handed over a list containing 324 different names, which basically covers every single person who has ever been banned. So, this whole narrative that the Bad Boys are facing ten times more trouble than anyone else is complete nonsense. It isn't just about the Bad Boys either; it's other groups too, and even the national team. You can't act like you're uniquely targeted when the data shows otherwise.
Would it even surprise you that those guys were already getting slapped with two-month bans for setting off flares thirty years ago? It’s the same story everywhere. You look at some scene over in Canada right now, and they’re dealing with the exact same number of bans. It’s a pattern, plain and simple.
I’m not just talking to you; I’m addressing everyone who felt the need to quote me. Look, let’s be real—there is dirt here. Things happen that seem straight out of a conspiracy theory, making it look like someone is shaking hands with people they shouldn't be. But once you strip away all the online trolling, the constant nitpicking, and the endless media spin, the actual facts remain. To those commenters: despite everything you claim to know, even when we present the undeniable truth without hiding anything, you still can't handle it. You won't admit it because it’s uncomfortable, but the reality is right in front of you. We see all sorts of issues happening in this country, but there are equally powerful responses to them. Take the fans of the rival team—they get dragged through the mud constantly. Sure, their situation is chaotic and they admit it, but can anyone else claim their supporters haven't been in literal life-or-death struggles against forces that were forced upon them? Is there anything more pure or intense than that? Or are they only labeled "agents" simply because people talk about them more openly than they talk about you?
And to that person questioning the alleged collusion with the President involving folks from our section... you can easily find songs written against him and his associates, or choreographies designed as direct rebuttals to his statements. Just Google who is clashing with his police force lately because he’s backing some absolutely insane festival in Chicago. And look at how much conflict those guys have with the police. Maybe a better question would be: does anyone else have more conflict than them?
Maybe you should go do some digging into how long ago and how exactly the stadium cameras were removed, and so on. It’s easy to sit back and conclude that things were forced upon you because you were too soft, too gentle, or too bloodless to fight back. But having big mouths doesn't solve real-world problems, does it?
I’m done here. This is getting ridiculous. If you actually care, you can go look up the details I've mentioned; if you're interested, I bet you already know them. No matter how shocking your reaction might be, these are the facts regarding comparable situations elsewhere.
