Do Significant Achievements of National Football Team Can Strengthen National Identity in Montenegro?

Stevo Popovic; Dusko Bjelica

¹University of Montenegro, Faculty for Sport and Physical Education, Niksic, Montenegro

Do Significant Achievements of National Football Team Can Strengthen National Identity in Montenegro?

Da li značajni uspjesi nacionalnog fudbalskog tima mogu ojačati nacionalni identitet u Crnoj Gori?

Monten. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2014, 3(1), 31-33

Abstract

Although most of Montenegro’s population adore football and support national football team, strong ethnic bigotry still exists. It is interesting to compare the results of 1981 and 2011 census. There were 44.98% of ethic Montenegrins in 2011, 28.73% of Serbs, and 8.65% of Bosnians; while the population living in same area in 1981 numbered 68.54% of ethnic Montenegrins and 3.32% Serbs, while ‘Bosnians’ did not exist as a category at that time; they were referred to according to their religion, i.e. “Muslims”. Obviously, these differences were not caused by some great migrations, as it might seem at first sight, but it is the result of the ideological sentiments of a number of citizens of Montenegro, who changed beliefs during the difficult and turbulent time of the 1990s. The variations of their ethnicities are the outcome of the ideological concepts and their religious affiliations, mostly due to the reason that most of them experienced the collapse of the Yugoslav national identity and still looking for their self. Hence, a main goal of this study is to recommend that significant achievements of national football team can strengthen national identity and enhance peaceful coexistence between various ethnic groups in multi-cultural society such as Montenegro.

Keywords

Soccer, Ethnicity, Nationality, Nationalism

Abstract (MNE)

Iako većina Crnogoraca obožava fudbal i podržava nacionalni fudbalski tim, veoma izražena etnička netrpeljivost i dalje postoji. Kada je ovo pitanje u fokusu pažnje, Interesantno je uporediti rezultate popisa iz 1981. godine i popisa iz 2011. godine. Na popisu 2011. godine etnička struktura stanovništva u Crnoj Gori se ogledala u 44,98% koji su se izjasnili kao etnički Crnogorci, zatim 28,73% kao etnički Srbi, 8,65% kao etnički Bošnjaci, dok su populaciju koja je življela na području Crne Gore sačinjavale sljedeće etničke grupe, prije svega etnički Crnogorci sa 68,54%, zatim etnički Srbi sa 3,32%, dok „Bošnjaci“ kao etnička grupa nisu postoji u to vrijeme, već je značajan dio populacije iz ove etničke grupe odabirao svoju etničku pripadnost u skladu sa religijom, npr. „Muslimani“. Očigledno je da ove razlike nisu uzrokovane značajnijim migracijama, kako bi se dalo zaključiti na prvi pogled, već su rezultat ideološke naklonosti značajnog broja stanovništva u Crnoj Gori, koji su mijenjali svoja uvjerenja tokom turbulentnog period tokom 90-ih. Varijacija njihove etničke pripadnosti predstavlja ishod ideoloških koncepata i religioznih osjećanja, najviše iz razloga što je slom jugoslovenskog nacionalnog identiteta doveo do toga da većina njih još uvijek trača za svojim identitetom. Stoga, cilj ove studije je da preporuči da značajni uspjesi nacionalnog fudbalskog tima mogu ojačati nacionalni identitet i unaprijediti miroljubivu koegzistenciju među različitim etničkim grupama u multikulturalnom društvu kao što je crnogorsko.

Keywords (MNE)

Fudbal, etnička pripadnost, nacionalnost, nacionalizam

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