Why Hungary is infected with ultras that are almost impossible to control | Hungary

There was an air of inevitability when fights erupted away in Hungary’s 1-1 draw with England at Wembley on Tuesday night.

Hungarian fans had been disciplined for their behavior in four of the previous six matches played in front of fans, with homophobic banners seen against Portugal and Germany, and monkey songs heard against France and England.

Abuses against Raheem Sterling and team-mate Jude Bellingham in last month’s game in Budapest led Fifa to impose the stadium closure on Hungary after another imposed by UEFA due to the summer unrest.

In Hungary, there is a pervasive sense of injustice, with both bans being vehemently condemned by football fans and government ministers.

During Ferencvaros’ match against Real Betis in the Europa League on September 30, the Green Monsters Ultra group unveiled a banner: “Double standard instead of tie!” It’s not RATE! “

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook in July about the UEFA ban: “The committee making such a decision is a pitiful and cowardly body. They should be ashamed of themselves. “

A Hungarian fan makes a point with a banner as the English players kneel at Wembley. Photograph: Paul Marriott / Shutterstock

In Hungary, government figures from the Fidesz party are reluctant to criticize Hungarian football fans, because of the close relations between the government and ultra groups. These relationships are over a decade old, going back as far as when the government was in opposition.

In 2009, in an effort to contain neo-Nazi violence on the terraces, Fidesz met ultras groups from Hungary’s biggest clubs and formed the now infamous and unavoidable Black Shirt Carpathian Brigade.

Based on the promise of bringing together all the fans – the ultras groups, the left, the liberals, the right – for years, the Carpathian Brigade has built a healthy relationship within Hungary. The group conducts a wide range of charities and is known to have brought a much better atmosphere to national team games.

Quick guide

No Fifa action on Glik’s clash with Walker

Spectacle

Fifa will not take any disciplinary action following England’s Kyle Walker and Poland’s Kamil Glik clash in the World Cup qualifiers last month in Warsaw due to a lack of evidence. It is understood that Football Association officials immediately reported the incident to the FIFA match delegate, with the Polish association denying any racist element. The two associations were asked for their observations on the incident by Fifa.

A spokesperson for the world governing body said: “After a thorough assessment which included relevant match reports, the FIFA Disciplinary Commission decided not to open disciplinary proceedings concerning Poland against England on the 8th. September due to insufficient evidence. Fifa’s position remains firm and committed to rejecting all forms of discrimination. In this particular case, no evidence has been produced to support further action. ” PA Media

Thank you for your opinion.

“Only the big games had a suitable atmosphere, but the club ultras did not unite behind the national team or skip the games altogether,” Gergely Marosi, professor of sports journalism at the Metropolitan University of Budapest.

“Because these ultras had their conflicts with each other, sometimes they didn’t stand close to each other, otherwise there was a chance of getting into trouble. It obviously didn’t help the atmosphere. The songs were disjointed and came from different sectors; there have been a lot of lifeless matches in terms of fan performance.

Members of the Carpathian Brigade march towards Hungary's Euro 2020 match against Portugal in Budapest in June.
Members of the Carpathian Brigade march towards Hungary’s Euro 2020 game against Portugal in Budapest in June. Photograph: Zoltán Balogh / EPA

Yet the Carpathian Brigade soon fell victim to its own success. For many years he managed to control his members, but as the group grew so did the problems. Matches against Romania’s fierce rivals in 2013 and 2014 saw coordinated violence, and at Euro 2016 the Carpathian Brigade first made headlines in Europe after clashing with stewards during the match against Iceland in Marseille.

Initially comprised of 50 to 100 grassroots ultras, membership grew and the neo-Nazi element that the Hungarian government struggled to contain was once again seen on the terraces. Over time, the group has become a kind of safe space for this white nationalist element to fester.

White nationalism on the terraces of Hungarian football stadiums dates back to the 1950s and developed in the 1970s and 1980s as Hungarian youth, disillusioned with communism, became more brazen with its protests.

When the Soviet system collapsed, fan violence in matches became commonplace, and most regular match fans who were not interested in violence left. When communism fell in 1989, attendance in Hungary averaged around 7,000. Today, it is below 3,000.

The spectators remaining in the match largely share similar sentiments. White tattoos are common among ultras groups at national games, as are Nazi-inspired banners, and this has spread more recently in national team games, so much so that before the game. Hungarian European Championship in Munich in June, the Carpathian Brigade warned fans on their Facebook page that they would need to cover tattoos to comply with local laws.

A fan displaying an emblem of Poland in the late Hungary at Wembley.
A fan displaying an emblem of Poland in the late Hungary at Wembley. Photograph: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian

The Carpathian Brigade has become almost impossible to control. The principles on which it was founded are starting to shatter and it is impossible to determine who belongs to the group.

As of Tuesday evening, the core of the Carpathian Brigade was not present, but the growing infamy of the group is spawning a culture that inspires those in the ultras culture outside the core of the group to hide under its banner.

Another fan from Poland apparent outside of Wembley.
Another fan from Poland apparent outside of Wembley. Photograph: Matt Impey / Shutterstock

It was a mix of Hungarian and Polish supporters that caused problems at Wembley on Tuesday night. Poland and Hungary’s close ties go back centuries, and in football terms, over the past decade, ultras groups have started to forge increasingly intertwined relationships.

Prior to 2009, Hungary’s ultras in national team matches were fragmented. The ultras of Ferencvaros would not team up with their ultras rivals Ujpest, nor Fehervar, Honved or Debrecen. Each group of Ultras sat in a different part of the stadium and they would never walk under the same banner.

Now under the name of the Carpathian Brigade, the ultras from Hungary (and to a lesser extent also from Poland) have formed alliances most would have thought impossible over the fragmented years. This name is starting to become one of the most feared and infamous ultras groups in Europe. This is an extremely worrying development and the question is, where will it all end?

Comments are closed.