ABSTRACT
Twenty years after Yugoslavia began breaking apart into new states, former Yugoslavs have re-established many of their commercial, professional and cultural ties. This network of renewed connections extends to most team sports, but not to football. Advocacy for a regional football league is a decade old, and there have been several concrete proposals. Despite all this, the idea remains intensely controversial. This article provides an argument for the controversy’s depth and persistence, which is that football, unlike other sports, had a role in Yugoslavia’s dissolution and continuing post-war inter-ethnic animosities and conflicts. This article also pays attention to challenges and alternatives to this legacy, as expressed in the league debate. Given the intolerance and violence in post-Yugoslav football, the increasing openness to football reunion is noteworthy.
