Who stands behind the football hooliganism provocateurs?

Pseudo-fans once again staged a provocative action during a football match between the clubs Gabala (Azerbaijan) and Dynamo (Georgia), by hanging out a poster with an inscription in English, "We remember Zagatala and Gah in 1921"  from the stands – alluding to the alleged problem of the historical affiliation of two regions of Azerbaijan.

This was not the first provocation of this kind: in the past year Vestnik Kavkaza wrote about an incident in Baku during a match between FC Chihaura and Neftchi. Then it was a very ugly trick of the same kind from youths from the Union of Georgian football fans Komagi.

After the incident, which miraculously did not end with a serious conflict, over-zealous fans who use football matches for political provocations were invited to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia for a serious conversation, and they were strongly advised not to do it again. But, apparently, they were advised not very convincingly, since, according to some data, the same football hooliganism clique stands behind the new trick.

Although now that there is a huge uproar in the Tbilisi press, Komagi diligently dissociates itself from the incident, but the style of behaviour is identical to last year's. The only difference is that this time it happened in Georgia and it did not just end with a provocative banner – there is also violence against Azerbaijani fans. However, the Georgian Interior Ministry did not confirm the attack on fans from Baku.

Still, the response was very violent. FC Dynamo apologized, saying that the club completely dissociates itself from the incident. The statement expressed regret at the provocative poster, "which was soon removed by the security of DynamoArena," but it is claimed that an incident took place between fans outside the stadium. "In the official program we repeatedly emphasized what an honour it is for us to compete with football team of our neighbouring country. We hope that such incidents will not have a negative impact on the relations between our two friendly countries," the document says.

Nevertheless, it is still unclear who these people are, who are constantly bringing nervousness, not only in the sports relations of neighbouring states but also, most importantly, who order provocations with a political and even geopolitical subtext.

Vestnik Kavkaza tried to find out what measures are being taken by the authorities to punish those responsible and thus prevent similar antics in the future. The Interior Ministry told us that the actions of the pseudo-fans "are not even close" to criminal or even an administrative infraction. Especially since the banner with the inscription offensive to Azerbaijanis was immediately removed at the first demand of law enforcement officers. But this circumstance further strengthens suspicions: all of this is too well orchestrated.

It is useless to blame the authorities – it is not beneficial for Irakli Garibashvili's government to spoil relations with a neighbouring state. Another thing is that the authorities cannot cope with dangerous manifestations of nationalism, and their "last warnings" won't scare the provocateurs. The government has a double loss: Baku has questions for its Georgian colleagues (even if they are not designed as a protest note), and the opposition is able to accuse the ruling Georgian Dream coalition of utter helplessness, incompetence and lack of professionalism. For the second time the media has exaggerated the images, disturbing hundreds of thousands of people, even though there are no problems, especially territorial, between the two countries.

The incident is actively "examined" in social networks. The general opinion of the bloggers is that you should find those who ordered it and punish them. While many suggest that if those who ordered it (for example, some nationalist organizations) exist, they would have been found long ago. Apparently, the youngsters from Komagi or other organizations of pseudo-fans are working with pretty much the same motivation as their peers, constantly "spamming" on the Internet, and sending malicious viruses.

But such behaviour is not becoming less dangerous and can lead to unpleasant consequences. It is believed that football is a great policy, as it touches the lives of millions of people. But for this same reason, everything that happens around and near football is related to the great policy.