December 16 – Croatia have been ordered to close a section of their ground for their next Euro 2016 home qualifier as punishment for racist behaviour and crowd trouble in last month’s fixture against group rivals Italy.
The referee was twice forced to call a halt to the 1-1 draw and 16 Croatia supporters were arrested.
UEFA charged the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) for racism from the stands as well for as crowd disturbances and their fans setting off fireworks and throwing missiles at the San Siro.
As a result they will forced to close an 8,000-strong section of the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb for March’s game against Norway. The Croatian federation has also been fined £63,000, while its Italian counterpart was fined £10,000 after home fans set off fireworks too.
Croatia coach Niko Kovac said after the game he expected punishment from UEFA and feared it might have been worse. “Of course Croatia will face sanctions, but there is no reason for any point deductions,” he said.
Italian international Daniele de Rossi said he had had enough of fans getting away with breaking the rules. “Unfortunately, it seems you can bring anything into stadiums nowadays and I really don’t know why,” he said at the time.
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