This gallery originally appeared on VICE Serbia
Belgrade smelled of blood, sweat, and tears on Saturday. While 25,000 people flocked the streets to run the 29th Belgrade marathon, several hours later another 40,000 attended Serbia’s 151st infamous eternal derby between Belgrade rivals, Red Star and Partizan.
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With several great Kenyan runners taking part, you could basically predict who’d win the marathon, but the derby champion has always been a mystery. And so it went: two Kenyan runners won the women’s and men’s races, while the football match ended in a draw. Sure, technically no one won, but humanity walked away the loser when waves of violence swept through the stadium with such force that dads had to usher their children out early before the end of the match.
Fans with smashed heads—and one who may have lost two fingers—fights between rival hooligans, fights with the police, broken chairs at the stadium… it was the same old, same old.
A few adventurous tourists came to town for the derby, to fight or take selfies or watch men pummel each other. But they go back home, while we remain here, with our match day, its hooliganism and its focus on football as an aside.
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