Hungarian-Slovak relations through the eyes of football stadiums

Pavol Struhár; Marián Bušša

doi:10.6093/2611-6693/10608

Pavol Struhár Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín
Marián Bušša Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín University of Trenčín

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/2611-6693/10608

Abstract

Slovak-Hungarian relations have long been burdened by a different view of the common past. While Hungary and Slovakia cooperate as good and reliable partners in international relations and despite friendly relations between their governments, deep-seated tensions between the two nations is regularly displayed when it comes to football matches. The goal of the article is to map the political expressions of relevant actors at mutual football matches. It analyzes in more detail the behavior and political or ideological expressions of national football associations, clubs, players or fans during two international matches between Slovan Bratislava and Ferencvárosi TC (Budapest) in 2022. The conclusions show that the matches were seen by some spectators as an expression of rivalry between Hungarians and Slovaks. Despite the efforts of UEFA, national football federations or the clubs themselves, the spectators presented political attitudes that bore the signs of aggressive nationalism or chauvinism.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Pavol Struhár, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín

Pavol Struhár is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science of the Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín. He primarily deals with research on radicalism, extremism, and far-right or far-left political representation. His dissertation focused on modern trends in the neo-Nazi movement and its impact on the far-right political representation in Slovakia. He currently studies football fandom and hooliganism, especially from a political and ideological point of view. Since 2021, he has been the deputy chief investigator of the research project "Characteristics, Ideological Profiling and Development of Football Hooliganism in Slovakia". In his social projects, he works with young people, trying to strengthen their resistance to radicalization and support democracy and human rights.

Marián Bušša, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín University of Trenčín

Mgr. Marián Bušša, PhD. is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, Slovakia. He also earned his PhD. degree in Political Science there in 2018. He received a Master's degree in Political Science at Department of Political Science, Faculty of Philosophy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia. He specializes in far right and radicalization, political parties and ideology, political culture and civic society. He is a general editor of the scientific journal Political Science Forum (2011- present). Currently he is a member of the research team of the VEGA project "Characteristics, ideological profiling and development of football hooliganism in Slovakia" Reg. no. 1/0448/21. He is an expert reviewer of scientific monographs, studies in scientific journals and also serves as an assessor of projects of the KEGA agency in Slovakia.