Rivalries

Fierce rivalries between ultra groups can be found all over the world, although most of the larger rivalries are found in Europe. The rivalries are often based around a basic animosity toward the rival team, mostly in derbies, and some rivalries are partly based on politics (e.g. Livorno vs. Lazio). There have also been rivalries between ultra groups that support the same team; based on personal and/or leadership disputes. Sometimes ultra groups try to capture banners and flags of rival groups. Losing a banner or flag to a rival group is considered a big humiliation, and the faction losing the banner is required to disband.

In the book How Soccer Explains the World, Franklin Foer describes the rivalry between Serb and Croat teams as, "The new, or rather old, enmity could be seen visibly at the soccer stadium... fans sang about their respective slaughters."[6] The ultras of FC Red Star Belgrade, the Delije (Heroes) formed the base of Arkan's Tigers, a Serbian paramilitary force who were later implicated in multiple acts of terror during the Wars in Yugoslavia. The Tigers made a dramatic appearance during the Belgrade derby game of 22 March 1992 between Red Star and Partizan; they held up road signs saying: '20 miles to Vukovar'; '10 miles to Vukovar'; 'Welcome to Vukovar'. More signs followed, each named for a Croatian town that had fallen to the Serbian army. Arkan was then director of the Red Star supporters' association.[7] In later matches, after Serbian army retreated from occupied Vukovar, Croatian fans would regularly display signs honoring Vukovar (sometimes spelt Vukowar) and chant: "Vukovar! Vukovar!". When Bosnia-Herzegovina played a friendly game against Croatia in August 2007, Croatian fans formed a human U symbol, representing the fascist Ustase movement responsible for mass killings of Serbs, Jews and Roma people during World War II. This was during a time of rising ethnic tensions in Bosnia between Croats and Bosnian Muslims