Real football, flares, explosions and fan marches. What I saw tonight was nothing I'd ever experienced before...
When locals told me of a football match between 2 big rivals from the same city, FC Sarajevo and FC Željezničar, I knew i had to go!
I didn't know what to expect. When I got to the stadium, there were seemingly endless crowds of fans and scores of Riot Police on standby in case things got out of hand.
The energy of the stadium of unmistakable. The fans were extremely passionate and you could feel they were completely unified for each of their teams.
The Ultras (ultra fanatic supporters) were placed in netted sections on opposite ends of the stadium and both groups had flares and fireworks. For the Ultras, football isn't the only game played in the stadium. Marching in their thousands, lighting flares, and throwing fireworks, you could tell they were trying their hardest to intimidate the opposing team, and supporters.
At one point, the match had to be paused due to lack of visibility as a result of all the smoke and flares thrown onto the field.
I'd never experienced this sort of thing in Australia, or anywhere else in the world. It was a really chaotic atmosphere.
In the end, FC Željezničar won 5-2. Both teams played strong, and always challenged for the ball which was great to see. The refs also didn't stop the game every minute like I've seen in many other games so that was fantastic.
If you're looking for a culturally immersive and authentic local travel experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you should consider visiting a football match in Sarajevo - it will be like nothing else you've seen before!
#BosnianSoccerGame #FCŽeljezničar #FCSarajevo
1 сен 2019
