On Saturday, the Croatian sports club Zrinjski Mostar published a statement on its official website in which it rejected the claims of some members of the public that a monument was removed by removing a construction installation at the stadium, stressing that there is no legal basis for such a qualification.
From the club to press release point out that it is about technical procedure carried out for the purpose of harmonizing the stadium infrastructure with UEFA rules ahead of the match against Crystal Palace FC in the UEFA Conference League.
Announcement below we transmit in its entirety:
“Croatian sports club Zrinjski Mostar in its entirety rejects and denies every possibility that any action of the Club, undertaken within technical intervention in the area of the stadium, which included the removal of a construction installation, was impermissible, illegal or in any way potentially illegal.
The aforementioned installation is incorrectly, arbitrarily and legally unfounded by some of the media and some public actors and labeled as “monument“, although there is no such qualification no legal basis nor formal status in the current legal order of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It works correct understanding of the genesis of the procedure HŠK Zrinjski, it should be pointed out that the activities undertaken are directly related to obligation of the Club to ensure the stadium’s infrastructure complies with UEFA’s current technical and safety standards ahead of the upcoming match against Crystal Palace FC in the UEFA Conference League.
Namely, after the historic success and selected placement in knockout phase UECLHŠK Zrinjski, in accordance with the UEFA Regulations on Stadium Infrastructure, as well as the obligations of clubs competing in the UEFA Conference League, was forced drastically expand certain technical spaces (areas for parking teams and officials, public approaches and exits and directions of movement, working room for media representatives, working room for photographers, seats for media representatives, TV commentary positions, camera platform, area for television trucks, press conference room, mixed zone) necessary for the organization of matches in accordance valid UEFA standardsand all so that a match of historical significance for our Club, the city of Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina could be organized at the HŠK Zrinjski stadium. football.
Before taking the mentioned action, HŠK Zrinjski, acting conscientiously and responsibly, carried out checks to determine the legal status of the installation in question, with special emphasis on the question of whether it enjoys any form institutional protection in terms of regulations on the protection of monuments and cultural-historical heritage, and what they should and had to do and haters of everything to do with HŠK Zrinjski before they went public with false and inaccurate claims.
In this context, it is necessary to clearly point out that in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is a strictly standardized and hierarchical system monument protection systemin which there is no possibility that a certain object can be considered a monument without the existence of a formal act of the competent authority. How important is this segment related to the monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, let the fact that this matter is established and defined serve as an example Annex VIII of the Dayton Agreement.
For those who did not have time, desire or knowledge, let alone good will, various politicians and populists, chronically uninformed and ill-intentioned journalists, columnists or unemployed self-styled historiansto check all this here is a simple one legal chronology:
At the state level, the status of a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be assigned exclusively by the decision of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a body established on the basis of Annex VIII of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The commission is the only competent body for the declaration of national monuments and keeps official and publicly available records, including:
- List of proclaimed national monuments of BiH,
- Provisional list of national monuments,
- Records of rejected proposals and submitted but unresolved initiatives.
The Commission’s official records are available on its website: https://kons.gov.ba and the lists of national monuments and decisions of the Commission are published in a special section “National monuments“.
By checking the above lists and registers, it was undoubtedly established that the installation in question has not been declared a national monumentthat it is not on the Provisional List of National Monuments, nor was it ever the subject of a Commission decision in any form.
So, in the specific case, it doesn’t exist no resolution, deed or record by which the installation in question would have the status that it wants to be attributed to it in the media and by individuals who have appeared in the media space in recent days.
As a result of the above, any possibility that the installation in question, in the legal sense, is considered a monument or a protected cultural asset has been removed.
We especially note that they are all legal and natural persons, including those who are very vocal in their opinion hate speechhad the right and the opportunity to initiate proceedings before the competent Commission to declare an asset a monument, but they did not, even though they had more than 30 years for such an initiative.
Additionally, it should be noted that the installation in question, due to the passage of time, has been for more than thirty years renovated several timesmaintained and modified, during which it lost all original architectural, functional and symbolic identity.
They are on the same subsequently added elements like the shape of a soccer ball, as well as the features or symbols of the Croatian people. If the installation at any time had the status of a monument or a protected property, such interventions would not be permitted or legally possible.
Instead of the entire public, both from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as from Mostar and Herzegovina, focusing on presenting HŠK Zrinjski in the best possible light in Europe, today we are forced to read some kind of teaching self-proclaimed analysts and fighters for a better society and a better future.
At the HŠK Zrinjski stadium, a demolished monument dedicated to the players of Velež
Not wanting to pay attention to politically motivated messages various sports workers who, for reasons known only to them, decided to share their opinion in public, HSK Zrinjski remains consistent with its identity and the values it has represented since its foundation and even through the period of the ban on the activities of the most successful football team in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Quality and fruits of continuous hard and honest work we can see in the successes that our club records from year to year, and we hope that with the support of our loyal fans in the current season we will reach the much-desired the tenth championship title of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We are sure that after the public becomes familiar with all the relevant and correct facts, this the topic disappeared from the media space as was the case with the famous, but non-existent drones and the sprinkling of acid on the lawn, for which misinformation, untruths or lies no one was ever held accountable for. Both then and now, various politicians appeared who, with their irresponsible statements, only further created divisions in society and the state.
Following all of the above, HŠK Zrinjski explicitly rejects and negates any connotation which is trying to be attributed to him and emphasizes how he will stay consistent with the modernization of the stadium with the aim of meeting modern infrastructural standards and creating better conditions for the club, fans and the wider sports community.”
(www.jabuka.tv)
