Petkovic: we need peace and unity

Pope Francis, Bosnian “coach” for a day. Vladimir Petkovic recalls his long experience as football player and coach in his reflections on the Pope’s visit to Sarajevo next June 6. With eight spoken languages – in addition to native Croatian and Bosnian also English, French, Spanish, German, Russian and Italian – and three passports, Croatian, Bosnian and Swiss, “Vlado” (who today heads the Swiss national football team), embodies the multiethnic and interreligious tradition of Sarajevo, his city of birth, and of all Bosnia-Herzegovina. The tradition has been ongoing since the outbreak of the war (1992) with the involvement of three major national groups, Serbians, Croatians and Bosnians of Muslim faith, that ended with the Dayton agreement (1995), which defined the Country’s division in two areas, the Croatian-Muslim Federation (51% of the territory) and the Serbian Republic (the remaining 49%). Daniele Rocchi interviewed Petkovic for SIR Europe. In a month Pope Francis will be in Sarajevo… “This visit will be very important for Sarayevo and for Bosnia-Herzegovina as a whole. His words, his gestures, can give new impetus to the dialogue between the various realms, cultures and faiths that cohabited this land for centuries and that are part and parcel of our tradition. After many years of wars, divisions, fragmentations, we need to recover unity of intentions and goals to boost the Country’s development. In his journey to Albania and Israel the Pope asked for dialogue and peace. This is what the world needs for a brighter future. This is true for Bosnia in particular”. Sarajevo, a city that is a symbol of Europe, was torn apart by the war, whose consequences are still direly felt by its population. What are your memories of that period? “When the conflict broke out in 1992 I was already in Switzerland. I had left Sarajevo, where I was born and raised by my family, between legal studies and football, to play in the Coira team. At the time I used to collect humanitarian aid and food packages that would send to my relatives still living in my hometown. During the long years of the war all we heard were shootings and grenades, and the only news we had came from amateur radios. Before then, Sarajevo was known as a city that drew inspiration from culture, art, sport, dialogue and inter-faith coexistence. We hope it will return to be the way it once was. The war was a period of violence, but there was also solidarity…” In which way? “People helped each other as much as they could, and they did so in a natural way, after many centuries of coexistence, which was also the result of their families’ education. This led me to be involved in the Caritas of Giubiasco, Switzerland, where I devoted myself to helping foreigners, ex drug-addicts, unemployed and alcoholics”. v In Sarajevo Pope Francis will encourage “germs of goodness” and contribute to the consolidation of fraternity and peace, interreligious dialogue and friendship. With which spirit will the population receive his words? “In today’s Sarajevo, and in the entire Country, people are tired of political, ethnic and religious divisions. They want to return to their past coexistence. To use a football metaphor, it’s time to play as a united team, without individualisms, in order to further the common good through the recovery of labour, social life, culture and sports”. Thus, to continue with football metaphors, will the Pope be Bosnia’s coach for a day, teaching its inhabitants to “pass the ball”, to score goal and experience a renaissance game? “The example of the Bosnian national team that played in Brazil’s world cup for the first time testifies to this. Today’s team consists of many players from different ethnic groups and faiths, members of three constitutive peoples, Serbian-Bosnians, Muslim-Bosnians, Croatian-Bosnians. It would have been impossible before the war. Today they take the field together, they pass ball, they help each other and fight together. This is the way to obtain results, that for Bosnia means to grow and develop as a Country”. Francis will celebrate Mass at the Koševo stadium before thousands of people… “I hope that there, on that day, there won’t be only Catholics but also members of different faiths, young people, united by the yearning to listen to words of peace, dialogue and coexistence, necessary tools to promote the common good of the Country”. As regards stadiums: they have increasingly become the setting of acts of violence. How can it be uprooted? “Violence in football matches can be uprooted, in fact, England set an example. Today’s supporters watch the matches seated a few meters from the football field, and everything goes smoothly. It’s important to adopt strict measures to prevent all forms of violence in sport, a phenomenon that involves many Countries. But repression alone is not enough; there should be an intense activity of prevention and formation of youths, to ensure that they experience sport in a different way. Also the players should do their share by avoiding disrespectful behaviours. The players should be positive examples. The beauty and love of sport should emerge from the football field. The Pope’s love for sport bears witness to this”.