The Srebrenica football club that rejected ethnic divisions

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For nearly a century, the Vidikovac Stadium has been preserving multiethnicity in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, globally known for the wartime massacre of thousands of Bosniaks.

It is the only place in the country that has continuously rejected any ethnic division, having players of the club of the Second League of Republika Srpska training and preparing for the continuation of one of their most successful seasons.

“As you can see, here nobody cares about who is a Bosniak and who is a Serb. I am looking forward to their holidays, they are looking forward to mine. That is why this is the most beautiful story from this region,” said Jovan Nedeljkovic, one of the players of FC Guber.

“We all are seeking to be at the top. To be a team, to be united, not to play as individuals,” added Adnan Muminovic, FC Guber's top scorer.

“That is why we are where we are now,” he says, referring to the fact that FC Guber leads the Second League.

Miljan Bodiroga is the oldest but also the most respected team member whom many opposing clubs tend to underestimate because of his age. But at the end of the match, they always congratulate the goalkeeper.

FC Guber has a soul, he claims.

“I am 47, soon 48, but these people from the administration simply do not allow me to retire,” said Bodiroga, the captain of the club.

Retired Guber players now transfer their knowhow to young people who join the club that was founded in May 1924, when a Bosniak and a Serb donated their pieces of land for the playground, said Zijad Salimovic, the president of FC Guber.

“No incident based on nationality has ever been recorded among players and board members. Not even among fans. We consider this one of the greatest values ​​of our football club,” said Marinko Kokeza Sekulic, president of the FC Guber Assembly.

The value of the club was recognized by all residents of Srebrenica. Six years ago, FC Guber got its own anthem, composed and produced by Srebrenica natives who live abroad or in other parts of Bosnia.

The joint stubbornness of the Guber football players is the club’s trump card in its aspiration to move up to a higher rank next season – the First League of Republika Srpska.

FC Guber is offering Srebrenica and its residents hope that one day this town will wake up realizing that a normal life is possible despite the town’s tragic past.