The scandal has erupted just hours before the decisive playoff final between Bosnia and Italy, scheduled for tomorrow evening in Zenica: according to SportMediaset, citing the Bosnian newspaper Klixba,an alleged Italian military spy is said to have gained access to the Bosnian national team’s training ground to film the players. According to the Sarajevo-based news outlet, an Italian soldier, complete with camouflage fatigues, was reportedly stationed outside the training facility, initially in a harmless manner, before pulling a smartphone from his pocket and starting to film.
WHAT HAPPENED
All this took place at FK Sarajevo’s training camp in Butmir, where Dzeko and his teammates are preparing for the match: yesterday, due to the snow, they trained indoors at the sports centre, whilst today they took to the pitch and the local media present at the ground immediately noticed the training session being filmed by an EUFOR soldier, whose base is located right next to the pitch. The Italian soldier in question reportedly remained near the pitch even after the first 15 minutes of training, which were open to the public: Butmir borders directly on NATO headquarters, which houses the Multinational Battalion (MNBN), military police personnel – including Italian Carabinieri – and supports civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) in the country.
BOSNIA'S COMPLAINT
Meanwhile, defence sources have stated that theman was not a “spy”: he is reportedly an Italian soldier who, from the base located next to the football pitch, was on site simply watching the training session, with no connection to any other activities. These soldiers are engaged in European Union peacekeeping missions and are currently operating primarily within the Althea mission, to ensure security and support stability in the region. Following this, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Navy will file a complaint with the EUFOR mission: the image of the soldier perched on the small steps of the Bosnian stadium has gone viral across the country, even though he was most likely just a soldier who wanted to watch the training session, with no connection to Gattuso’s national team.
Advertisement
