By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Having increasingly preached zero tolerance when it comes to racism, FIFA have dealt their severest penalty to date by banning Croatia midfielder Josip Simunic for 10 matches, ruling him out of next year’s World Cup.
Simunic received the sanction for his ‘pro-Nazi’ chants as he celebrated Croatia’s qualification for the finals following their playoff win over Iceland. “The salute was discriminatory and offended the dignity of a group of persons,” FIFA said in a statement after the ruling by its disciplinary committee.
The highly experienced 35-year-old Dynamo Zagreb international, who has 105 caps, was also fined SFr30,000 ($33,860).
Simunic shouted “for the homeland” over a microphone, to which fans responded “ready”. The chant has associations with the Ustasha pro-Nazi regime that ruled Croatia during World War II and which was banned in 1945.
Simunic denied any political intent and will be devastated to miss the World Cup but FIFA viewed the incident as too grave to treat lightly.
“After taking into account all of the circumstances of the case, and particularly given the gravity of the incident, the committee decided to suspend the player for ten official matches,” its statement said.
“The resolution on the fight against racism and discrimination, which was approved in May 2013, advocates the need for strict punishments to send out a strong message that discrimination has no place in the game.”
The very first match of the ban will be the opening game of the World Cup against hosts Brazil. Australian-born Simunic is Croatia’s third most capped player and has already played in two World Cups and three European Championships.
“The thought that anyone could associate me with any form of hatred or violence terrifies me,” he said in a statement at the time of the incident. “As a Croatian who was born and grew up outside my homeland, I associate home with love, warmth and positive struggle – everything that we showed on the pitch to win our place in the World Cup.”
The ban, which could well end Simunic’s international career, was immediately branded “draconian” by Croatia Football Federation (HNS) executive chairman Damir Vrbanovic who suggested the player was being made an example of in order to send out a message to others.
“We are shocked by the decision of FIFA with regard to penalties for Simunic, which endangers the player’s representative career,” he said in a statement on the federation’s website.
“Although we know that through his behaviour he did not want to hurt anybody, FIFA is obviously hoping that such a draconian penalty sends a strong message.”
Croatia coach Niko Kovac added: “I was unpleasantly surprised, shocked and disappointed by FIFA’s punishment for Josip Simunic. I am primarily sorry for Josip, who will miss the World Cup. I have known him for a long time as a player and as a man, and I am absolutely sure that in no way did he want to hurt anyone.”
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