Rival Fans Help Each Other Work Around New Law
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
The Croatian FA’s decision to introduce a new ‘voucher’ system for away fans at Croatian domestic football league matches has united bitter rival fan groups Torcida and Bad Blue Boys.
The law, which means away fans are banned at matches unless the away club applies at least 24 hours in advance and registers travelling fans details (name, id number ect), took effect this weekend with surprising results. With Dinamo Zagreb playing away on the weekend at RNK Split, Dinamo’s notorious Bad Blue Boys fans already worked out a way to beat the ‘voucher’ system – by getting their rival fans to buy tickets for them. The favour was returned a day later on Saturday night when Hajduk Split played in Zagreb and got access to tickets from the home fans.
Less than a dozen vouchers had been applied for through the official channels, but both matches had hundreds of away supporters, who were standing side by side on the terraces with their rival fans. No incidents were reported on the weekend.
