The facts
On 8 November 2025, before a hockey match in Hodonín, a group of fans of LHK Jestřábi Prostějov chanted:
“Mrtvola cikána plave po vodě” (“The corpse of a Gypsy floats on the water”).
The chant was recorded and shared on social media. Police stated they are collecting footage and materials to determine whether the case will be handled as an administrative offense or a criminal act.
As of now, no sanctions or charges have been announced.
In 2023, Romani player Dominik Lakatoš, then with Vítkovice, was targeted with racist insults during a quarterfinal game against Kometa Brno. Coach Miloš Holaň called the behavior “over the line”, the rival club apologized, and the penalty was a symbolic fine.
Two years later, the pattern remains unchanged.
Club reaction
LHK Jestřábi Prostějov publicly distanced itself from the incident.
“The LHK Jestřábi Prostějov hockey club disassociates itself from any manifestation of racism and considers this behavior unacceptable,” said executive director Martin Schmidt in a statement to Romea.cz.
He added that the club has no direct authority over fans’ behavior outside the stadium.
Stadiums as occupied spaces
Hockey, like football, has become a setting where ultras and far-right sympathizers assert control.
Not all fans are racist, but the violent ones dominate the atmosphere and decide who can feel safe and who cannot.
Footage of the incident shows most participants wearing black caps and hoodies, partially covering their faces. This is common among radicalized ultra groups who seek to avoid police identification. The uniform clothing and the use of face-covering elements indicate premeditation and a clear intention to act as an organized bloc rather than a spontaneous group of fans.
Clubs tolerate them because they fill the stands and generate revenue.
Police tolerate them because they are considered “predictable.”
Politicians use them because they represent the nationalist voter no party wants to confront.
The result is a public space controlled by groups with racist or neo-Nazi ideology, moving with impunity under the label of “fans.” In this environment, foreigners and Romani people avoid entering stadiums to protect themselves from humiliation or violence.
Double standards: police and society
Police reaction to hate crimes follows a consistent pattern:
when the aggressor is Czech and white, the response is “we are investigating”;
when the accused is foreign or Romani, detention is immediate.
This inequality is not accidental—it reflects how the system actually works.
Institutions apply the law with different levels of rigor depending on a person’s origin.
The state repeats declarations of “zero tolerance,” but in practice acts selectively, turning impunity into a tacit approval.
Jaroslav Miko’s warning
After the Hodonín incident, Romani activist Jaroslav Miko posted a message on X summarizing the current decline:
“This is not the 1990s. This happened this week.
For years I’ve said that Andrej Babiš would open the door for racists and Nazis to gain power.
They told me it was just ‘Miko exaggerating’.I said then that society is like a fish: it rots from the head.
If scoundrels take power, racism returns to the streets.I’m not saying this to boast, but to urge every decent person to condemn these acts out loud.
First it will be the Roma, then the Ukrainians, and finally it will devour all of us.”
His message was shared thousands of times and highlighted by Romea.cz as evidence of rising intolerance after the 2025 elections. Reports from the Ministry of the Interior confirm that far-right groups use sports and cultural events as spaces for propaganda and recruitment.
Conclusion: the normalization of hate
Racist chants in stadiums are not isolated incidents.
They reflect a society that has grown accustomed to witnessing hate without reacting.
Police “investigate,” clubs stay silent, and politicians avoid speaking.
This passivity legitimizes violence.
In the Czech Republic, racist speech no longer causes outrage—it sparks debate.
And when racism is debated instead of punished, acceptance is the next step.
If institutions fail to apply the law equally to everyone, the country risks consolidating a de facto segregation, where some citizens enjoy full rights while others live under permanent suspicion.
Such a system turns racism into the norm.