BELGRADEBELGRADE Dec 3 (Reuters) - The latest outburst of soccer violence in Serbia has finally prompted the Balkan country's Football Association (FSS) and government to join forces in tackling hooliganism.
"What we need is a united front including clubs, sports bodies, players and institutions to condemn the violence and fans to distance themselves from hooligans," sports and youth minister Snezana Samardzic-Markovic told Reuters on Monday.
"Educational measures are desirable but repressive action is necessary and police have to act swiftly and decisively while the justice ministry should do the same."
On Sunday, a policeman fired two shots into the air in self-defence at Red Star Belgrade's match with Hajduk Kula as rioting fans battered him with burning flares and ripped seats.
He was taken to hospital and is in stable condition after he was treated for burns, cuts and bruises.
It was the second such incident in three years as a state television cameraman miraculously escaped unhurt during a 2004 riot in Belgrade, when shots fired by a policeman fighting a mob whizzed over his head.
Serbian soccer has been rife with violence in the past 15 years, the upsurge coming as an instant backlash of the former Yugoslavia's bloody break-up that resulted in what many experts describe as a loss of moral and social values.
Some of those bloody encounters resulted in deaths, many in serious injuries while very few produced fitting punishment for the offenders.
STRICT LAW
Serbia has a very strict law on violence at sports events, prescribing up to 10 years' imprisonment for perpetrators whose behaviour "puts at risk all the participants".
The problem is that it has rarely been implemented consistently or with a great deal of enthusiasm.
"It will be now, this is the first serious incident since the amendments have been made and I expect it to be a turning point," Samardzic-Markovic said.
Pitch invasions, brawls and the use of fireworks had gone largely unpunished recently as the FSS appeared powerless to deal with the issue.
On the other hand, decent fans were made to feel the full extent of the law last month when they had their umbrellas confiscated as "potentially lethal objects" by police before a first division match played in torrential rain.
The FSS finally turned to the governemt for help on Monday to eradicate a problem "completely alien to the Serbian nation, sports values and common sense".
"The hooliganism has exceeded the powers of the FSS to act on its own and punish the culprits, therefore we extend our full support to the state authorities to take appropriate measures," it said in a public statement.
"We regret that efforts by the FSS to implement the anti-hooliganism law through educational meetings with fans and police have failed to bear fruit."
A broad effort may well be Serbia's best chance of crushing what one fan called a "relentless repression of football". (Editing by Miles Evans)