Communicating vessels

It is a common secret from Russia to Latin America and from Eastern Europe to the Western Balkans that hooliganism and common crime often tread common ground; that hard-line associations of fans of the rituals of war and violence are sometimes the reservoirs from which extremist formations and organized crime recruit executioners.

Young people who blow off steam by attacking fans of competing sports associations with crowbars, flares and knives can easily be seized by the mafia to provide dark services, such as drug delivery, extortion, protection and special security services.

Recent research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime showed that of 122 fan associations in the Western Balkans - where hooliganism is acute - 78 were identified as "ultras" - with fanatical, violent, often radicalized fans - and 21 were involved with organized crime...