Changing the Rules of the Game: Comparing FIFA/UEFA and EU Attempts to Promote Reform of Power-Sharing Institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Abstract

This article compares two international attempts to promote reform of power-sharing institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina: failed European Union-led efforts to promote reform of the country's constitution, which was established by the 1995 Dayton Agreement; and the recent successful reform of Bosnia-Herzegovina's institutions of football governance, promoted by the game's international and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA. The article outlines the history of these two reform processes and seeks to explain why FIFA and UEFA have been more successful in promoting reform in this post-conflict setting than the EU. It argues that, in contrast to the EU, which has been vague about the precise reforms expected of Bosnia-Herzegovina's politicians, leaving the details to be negotiated by domestic political elites, FIFA and UEFA were more precise in their demands and were also willing to capitalise on popular frustration with the governance of the sport and to bypass nationalist elites who stood in the way of reform.

Greenwashed sports and environmental activism: Formula 1 and FIFA†

“…Like the FIA and Formula 1, FIFA routinely sidesteps sovereignty over space and people (Bond, 2010; Hyde, 2010)-consider the way it transcended the European Union to broker power-sharing in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Cooley & Mujanović, 2014). But the Association does have a more progressive environmental policy than Formula 1: Issues such as global warming, environmental conservation and sustainable management are a concern for FIFA, not only in regards to FIFA World Cups™, but also in relation to FIFA as an organisation.…”

“The pitch itself was no man's land:” Siege, Željezničar Sarajevo Football Club and the Grbavica Stadium

“…The interaction between football and ethnic politics has also been explored in the context of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina (see, e.g. Cooley and Mujanovic 2014;Ozkan 2013Ozkan , 2014Sterchele 2013). Conducted in the spirit of microhistory, this essay seeks to add to our understanding of the interplay between sport and conflict by "asking large questions in small places" (Ginzburg 1993;Joyner 1999, 1; see also Eriksen 2001).…”