Red Star Belgrade is under fire after the club's supporters held up a massive tifo honoring late war criminal Ratko Mladic.
The display took place during Sunday's Belgrade derby between Red Star — also known as Crvena Zvezda — and Partizan Belgrade.
Mladic died at 84 in a United Nations prison in August, and his funeral was held in Belgrade on Monday, Sept. 7. Thousands took to the streets in the Serbian capital to honor the general.
At the International Criminal Court in 2017, Mladic was given a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995.
Mladic was convicted in the massacre of around 8,000 Bosniak Muslims, mostly men and boys, in Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995.
The general and his men also oversaw a siege of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, in which more than 10,000 people died.
Despite his crimes, Mladic remains a popular figure among nationalist Serbians, many of whom make up Red Star's ultras.
But it wasn't just Red Star's fans who celebrated the late general. The club itself held a moment of silence for Mladic before Sunday's game, and the club's official X account posted a video of that tribute along with a salute emoji.
🫡
— FK Crvena zvezda (@crvenazvezdafk) September 6, 2026
🔴⚪️ #fkcz pic.twitter.com/n0IwG1NDTu
Red Star has already been in trouble this season for paying tribute to Mladic.
UEFA fined the club 90,000 euros this month after fans displayed a banner celebrating Mladic during a Europa League playoff against Czech side FC Viktoria Plzen.
Per UEFA, the fine was for "racist and/or discriminatory behavior" as well as "transmitting a message that is not fit for a sports event."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red Star Belgrade fans, club pay tribute to late war criminal Ratko Mladic
