I hate this man and so should you

Hate is a strong word. After all, I’ve never actually met Ante Aričić or anything. But then again, I’ve heard plenty about him and would have a lot to say if I did.

There have been a lot of rumors swirling around about how agents have been pushing players into Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević’s team. If you read my recent encyclopedia entry on the history of Bosnian football, you’d know that this has been a persistent problem for years. Various football agents with deep connections in the Bosnian FA would pay for their players to have a spot on the national team, and then share the profits with various FA officials once those players transferred to a foreign club. This was one of the biggest reasons why the fans essentially forced the FA to evict its most corrupt members and hire the “untouchable” Meho Kodro as new manager. When Ćiro replaced Kodro, he made a point that he would not allow any tampering with his short-list.

Unfortunately, some signs of trouble showed up with the game against Slovenia last month. Even though we have a huge problem with defenders, Ćiro only gave two new names a call: Nikola Mikelini and Zdravko Šaraba. Both of them play for clubs in Bosnia’s Premijer liga, which is probably one of the worst, most disorganized and corrupt leagues in Europe. Here’s how fans of FK Sarajevo, Šaraba’s team, reacted to his surprise call-up – you won’t even need to know Bosnian to understand.

As if that wasn’t enough, my suspicions were further confirmed this week. A popular Bosnian sports portal ran an article suggesting that Ćiro saw Hajduk Split’s Ante Aričić as a possible solution for our defensive woes. I assumed that it was just a case of bad journalism, until Ćiro revealed that he really was keeping close tabs on the guy:

SAN: Supposedly you’re excited aobut Ante Aričić, the central defender from Hajduk?

Ćiro: It’s true that we find him interesting. It’s up to him whether he’ll be among the candidates. Any qualified defensive player is certainly welcome, and from what I’ve heard we’re dealing with a quality player. It’s up to him to convince me with his form.

Ante Aričić? The Ante Aričić who was born in Croatia and has nothing to do with Bosnia? The Ante Aričić who was called up for the Greece match two years ago even though he played for the worst team in the Belgian league? The Ante Aričić who actually hadn’t played a single game for that team when he was called up? The Ante Aričić who has spent his career thus far playing for such heavyweights as NK Zmaj Makarska and KV Oostende? The Ante Aričić who is, in all likelihood, riding the bench at Hajduk Split? The Ante Aričić known to be tied to various corrupt FA officials?

That Ante Aričić?

Ugh. If it seems like I’m overreacting, it’s because, to me at least, Ante Aričić represents everything that’s wrong with the way football works in Bosnia. There is absolutely no reason why Aričić should deserva a call up – none. It’s embarrassing that he’s even being considered while players like Vukašin Trivunović and Ninoslav Milenković are being ignored. True, Ćiro didn’t openly admit that he was about to call him up, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. If I see Aričić take the field in our upcoming friendly, it will be a sign that something terrible is still rotting deep inside in the Ćiro-era FA.