When "Vreme" wrote four years ago about the construction of new stadiums in Serbia and the renovation of some existing ones, it was said that the national stadium would be completed by 2023. If it was really certain and possible, Belgrade would probably be a candidate to host this year's Champions League final on the fiftieth anniversary of that famous match between Ajax and Juventus in 1973.
photo: promoFOR NOW ONLY A SKETCH: The National Stadium in Surčin...
But the national stadium is still only an item in the budget - which is an accounting trick to increase the GDP - and there is nothing on the land in Surčin. Now the government is convincing the people that everything will be ready for the EXPO subsidiary exhibition in 2027, and they themselves know that it is more realistic - according to the dynamics of construction - that everything will be finished there in ten years. Again, this is good because Belgrade can apply for the organization of the Champions League final in 2033, if the stadium is of that size. His name could also be "Dragan Džajić".
When an article was published in "Vremen" four years ago about the announcement that it was starting to build small super modern stadiums in Serbia, the then director of the Office for Public Investments, Marko Blagojević, was available for an interview. Today, he is a minister in a ministry that bears the name of an office and is not allowed to speak to journalists who the regime has labeled as enemies of the government.
DO YOU REMEMBER HALE? "
pinky"
Photo: Rade Prelić / Tanjug...and A. Vučić's presentation
In the meantime, in these four and a half years, the government failed to do what it said at the time: new stadiums in Loznica, Zaječar, Leskovac and Vranje, renovation of "Karađorđa" in Novi Sad and the stadium of FK Radnički in Niš. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, whose first job was to manage the "Pinky" sports hall (in the mid-nineties, when the radicals came to power in the Belgrade municipality of Zemun), showed from his position at the top of the state that he fails to achieve what he loudly promises . In other words, nothing is finished on time and he "drives" large construction projects as well as his mandates - to last as long as possible and without interruption.
Vučić's management of Hall Pinky was marked by his inability to fix the roof and prevent leaks. Now, in all these stadiums, everything goes slowly and sloppily. The only difference is that today no one knows it, but only beautiful pictures of projects and what has been built so far are released everywhere with promotional texts such as "there is no one in Europe", "little Allianz Arena" and similar slogans.
However, one facility was opened: on Monday, August 21, the stadium in Leskovac was opened, where FK Dubočica should play, which in the meantime has been co-opted into the First League of Serbia - it is a lower rank than the Super League, in which Zvezda and Partizan.
The stadium, which does not yet have a name, has a little more than eight thousand seats and it was seen that it was solidly filled at the opening when the local team FC Dubočica played against FC Novi Sad. By the way, this sports facility is reminiscent of the one that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban built in Bačka Palanka for the needs of the local branch of the Puskas Academy, FC TSC club. That team played in the Champions League qualifiers this summer. If God is lucky, maybe Dubočica will reach these heights in two years, so let's see who will laugh at Vučić and talk about how he is throwing money at nothing, that is, he arranges business for his friends with the excuse that stadiums are something that is most important for the development of local communities.
HOSTING IN LESKOVACphoto: fonet / instagramConstruction of the City Stadium in Leskovac, October 2022.
From what can be seen in the media coverage and in the live broadcast on Telekom's Arena Sport prime channel, the stadium has problems with the grass, but - someone will say - it is much better than the old one. Of course, because more than 20 million euros were spent on this new one, and where there are twenty, there is another one to replace this grass with another and arrange a "grass carpet" so that Serbia and the people of Leskov can be proud of their playground.
Even better than this opening, which coincided with the opening of this year's Roštiljada, the traditional Leskovac festival, on August 31st there will be an international match between the Belgrade FC Čukarički and the Greek Olympiakos in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers. The arrival at the stadium was announced by Vučić personally, because what could be more logical than a private club from Belgrade playing its matches in Leskovac, 320 km away? And isn't that proof that such an investment was necessary and that there, at the bar, the spirit of sportsmanship will develop among the people, and children will be diverted from the streets and devoted to sports?
In one of the numerous recent "addresses", Vučić explained that such facilities are built because they are a way to bring families together - everyone goes to the stadium together, and when they are there, they have something to eat, drink, buy in some shops... He literally described what exists in one place in Serbia, which is the FK Voždovac stadium in Belgrade, built on the roof of a shopping center and where almost no one comes to watch matches. Why, one might ask? Well, maybe because nothing related to football in Serbia has anything to do with normality and normal life, on the contrary. Football is synonymous with violence, crime, drugs and rigging - which most citizens stay away from.
ORBAN'S RECIPES
All this is very good for Vučić and his approach to politics. He has a reason to be in Leskovac, he has a reason to "go to the people" and show what he has given them, and all of this will be broadcast on all TV stations, and the only bad thing that can happen is that someone else in other cities and municipalities does not they say "where is our stadium" and "when will Čukarički play with us"... Everyone knows Vučić's answer: it will happen, just be patient and dream and when pollsters call you, say that I am your favorite leader.
Before going to Leskovac, when he was already unable to go to Loznica, which is supposed to get the most beautiful small stadium in Europe, but it is not finished and due to problems with the poorly laid surface, there is no grass as it should be, the President of Serbia went to Budapest to his favorite European Viktor Orbán and, of course, they went to the stadium.
This time, it was not the national stadium "Ferenc Puskas", where FC Ferencvaros and the Hungarian national team play, and which over time became a concert mecca for this part of Europe, like its predecessor in Budapest, the NEP Stadium in the nineties. It is an even newer stadium built only for athletics and athletics competitions. This inspired Vučić to declare that after the incredible success of the Serbian athlete Ivana Vuleta (see text on page 52) and the winning of the world gold medal in the long jump, that such a facility will have to be built in Serbia for our athletes.
And really, who would be against that? It is good that there are national centers for each sport so that our young athletes who wear the jersey with the national emblem have a place to prepare and improve. Thus, several years ago, a promise was made that a national center for water polo and swimming would be built in Vrnjačka Banja, but nothing came of it. In Belgrade, in the neighborhood of Bežanijska kosa, the National Volleyball Center is being built as a pledge that this sport will be a source of pride for the entire country in the future. All of this is announced and built just like these stadiums - when Vučić thinks of it, when someone encourages him or when someone bows to him. Approximately, as in the case of the Radnički Sport Society from Belgrade and the late Dušan Duda Ivković.
Vučić has a justification for such an approach. He can tell everyone to look at the number of Olympic medals since he has been in power and claim that the country is making great strides. This is really easy to confirm and for now it is enough justification for the regime to build and build, while not asking how much it costs or when it will actually be built and finished. Paradoxically, of all those national sports centers, only the football one in Stara Pazova has been built for the time being for Tomislav Karadžić, whom Vučić persecuted so much at the beginning of his reign in 2012.
SUBSIDIES,
GRANTS AND QUESTIONS
When asked why he plans to pour hundreds of millions of euros into the national stadium, the president of Serbia can say that the national team is playing better and that club football has progressed. Because, well, Serbia has five representatives in European competitions, and the national champion goes directly to the Champions League, which is the result of the good games of Zvezda and Partizan in Europe and the format changes initiated by UEFA.
Even this year, there was talk that Zvezda could play their matches in Loznica, because they will enter the process of renovating the "Rajko Mitić" Stadium, which, despite all its shortcomings, is still the only decent such facility in Serbia. However, that stadium is also only filled a few times a year and it can be said that some money is made from the sale of tickets, and everything else is still bare subsidies and grants to the clubs in order to maintain some semblance of expediency.
People like big games, but the fact is that even this, the most expensive team in the history of Serbian football (FK Crvena zvezda this season), might have some chances if they played the consolation UEFA Conference League competition, because it is impossible to imagine that they have any chance with big European clubs that have budgets like the city of Belgrade (over a billion euros).
The audience in Serbia supported and showed loyalty in large numbers when it comes to KK Partizan, which has the most sold subscription tickets in Europe, but even that is not entirely enough for the club to be self-financed and go green. The world has known for a long time that there are three main sources of income in top sports: tickets, TV rights and sales of jerseys along with other things with the crest and name of the clubs, and Serbian teams are still decades away from that because there simply aren't that many people here who are ready to give several thousand euros annually for "their club".
So if that's the case, why aren't priorities made and money invested either in sports and health policy or in those sports that will really give Serbia a different image in the world? Why is it that instead of the stadium in Zaječar, on which twenty or more million euros will be spent, playgrounds for children, fitness tracks for recreational athletes and gymnasiums for physical education are not built at literally every school? Why do municipalities and cities in Serbia depend on whether a European or USAID donation will reach them in order to build or repair a playground that falls into disrepair in a few years because maintenance is not organized? Why are many gymnasiums in Belgrade and other major cities given to some kind of sports clubs, which mostly serve to appease local party leaders, and not for children to play sports in schools? Why, in the end, are there no more sports sections in schools and physical education teachers ready to lead their school teams? Why do investors who build in Serbia have no obligation to provide space for the construction of sports fields in neighborhoods, or at least parks where children could spend time outside in a safe environment?
SERBIA AS SAUDI ARABIA
None of that is happening, and huge investments are being announced which, in the end, will be realized if Vučić realizes his dream and remains in power for another twenty years. And if he does all that, he announced, he will pay someone to manage the property in order to make money on it. So, state money is being spent so that tomorrow some private company could use that investment to develop its business. Is this what the citizens need? We could imagine how Vučić believed that investing in sports infrastructure, if its life was self-sustaining, could partially change the image of Serbia in the world in the long term, but, really, where and when did that happen? There is no example of a state that could cover up the shortcomings and consequences of its bad policy with the success of athletes - let's just think of the USSR, GDR, Romania.
Even this year's billion-dollar investments in the development of football as an industry in Saudi Arabia will not change what it essentially is. All the posts on social networks that will be posted by football players who are paid by that country in dry gold, will hardly change the image of it - an authoritarian, feudal country owned by the family that runs it. It goes without saying - this is about Saudi Arabia, not Serbia at all.
