The Yugoslav First Federal League's 1990/1991 season was the 63rd time the competition was contested. The title was won by Red Star Belgrade, the club's 18th in its history. It also turned out to be the last season in which teams from SR Croatia and SR Slovenia participated. In 1991 these constituent republics declared their independence from Yugoslavia. Two points were awarded for a win, while the tied matches were decided by a penalty shootout with the winner getting a point. The first half of the season completed on December 19, 1990, with the postponed week 17 match in Split between Hajduk and Red Star. The second half of the season began on February 17, 1991.
The season featured a huge politically and ethnically motivated incident during the Hajduk Split vs. FK Partizan tie on Wednesday, 26 September 1990 at Poljud Stadium, when a mob of hardcore Hajduk fans invaded the pitch during second half in an attempt to lynch Partizan players. All of the Partizan players managed to run away into the dressing room, thus escaping unharmed. While chanting anti-Serb slogans, the violent mob then set fire to the Yugoslav flag that was displayed on the stadium's official mast. They then proceeded to raise the Croatian chequerboard flag. At the moment of the incident, Partizan was leading 0-2 courtesy of a Milan Đurđevićbrace. The match was never resumed and eventually registered 0-3 in Partizan's favour.
Dinamo v. Red Star match-fixing allegations
On Saturday, 18 May 1991, Dinamo Zagreb hosted champions-elect Red Star Belgrade at Maksimir Stadium. The match was of no competitive importance since Red Star had already clinched the league title as it prepared to go toBari some ten days later for the European Cup Final while Dinamo cemented its hold on the second place that ensured a UEFA Cup spot. However, the match still carried a degree of tension due to pitting a marquee Croatian side versus a marquee Serbian one at a time when ethnic incidents, some of them deadly, started taking place in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, and especially in light of the fact this was the first time the two teams met at Maksimir following the previous season's violent clashes in the stands that called the match off. This time the match began as scheduled and finished without interruption with Red Star going 0-2 in front before Dinamo mounted a spirited come-back for a 3-2 win at full time. However, more than 20 years later, allegations appeared that the contest had been fixed via confessions from two of the match's protagonists. Speaking to Globus magazine in September 2012, Robert Prosinečki, Red Star midfielder back in 1991, said his team "let Dinamo win that day". Prompted by Prosinečki's claims, Ljupko Petrović, Red Star's head coach in 1991, expanded: "We didn't lose that match by arranging with someone from Dinamo beforehand to let them win. No. We were simply forced into losing by the political circles that wanted to ensure Dinamo's win that day. The war had practically already begun, Croatia was about to declare independence, and the match was taking place only a year after the previous incident when Zvonimir Boban assaulted a policeman - our first away match versus Dinamo since then. I remember that Franjo Tuđman came to the match and watched it from the luxury box with his cronies and that the overall atmosphere within the stadium was extremely hostile such that no result but Dinamo's win was going to be acceptable. We got up 0-2, but towards the end of the first half Dinamo got a penalty on a scandalous and very obvious dive by Davor Šuker. Later, they managed to tie the score. At halftime I protested vehemently with the referee, a Montenegrin guy whose name I can't recall at the moment, and from what he told me it was apparent between the lines that it was already decided we had to lose that match for political reasons. Because Tuđman is sitting in the stands and because he doesn't want a Serbian team winning in the middle of Zagreb right in front of his eyes at a time when he's creating an independent state. I got thrown out of the match, we conceded once more, we lost the match and that's the whole story".
