By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – Just when their highly impressive team was stamping its mark on the tournament and emerging as genuine dark horses, Croatia’s fans once again brought shame on the nation.
UEFA seem certain to take action after opening proceedings today as a result of the crowd trouble that marred the end the Euro 2016 clash with the Czech Republic on Friday – and wrecked Croatia’s chances of direct qualification for the last 16.
Supporters threw at least 15 flares on to the pitch and fought among themselves, causing an area of the stand to be vacated and forcing English referee Mark Clattenburg to briefly halt the game in Saint-Étienne with four minutes remaining.
UEFA formally opened a disciplinary case against the Croatian soccer federation for racism, crowd disturbances, throwing of objects on the field, and setting off fireworks.
The federation faces at least a five-figure fine, and maybe worse, when UEFA’s disciplinary panel judges the case on Monday. It is the second round of charges involving Croatia fans in France. UEFA charged the federation over flares being lit and a fan running on the field to celebrate their goal in the 1-0 win over Turkey last Sunday. That case will be judged on July 21.
When Friday’s trouble occurred, Czech substitute Milan Skoda had already scored in the 76th minute to bring the score back to 2-1 and Croatia were then denied victory by a 94th-minute penalty, prompting the coach, Ante Cacic, and several players to blame a minority of their fans for the loss of two points. “These are not Croatian fans. They are terrorists,” said Cacic whose team had been cruising to victory.
Darijo Srna, the Croatia captain who played only days after the death of his father, pleaded for calm but his appeals were ignored as a small group of supporters, some in black T‑shirts and hooded jackets, launched repeated attacks on their compatriots.
Croatia, with arguably the worst record for misconduct inside stadiums of any nation in the tournament, could now be heavily punished with the threat of a suspended expulsion hanging over them.
The trouble once again appeared to be fuelled by local rivalries with fans of Hajduk Split venting their anger against perceived bias towards Dinamo Zagreb. “They are ruining what we are doing,” said Cacic. “They probably have support from somewhere but 95% of Croatians are ashamed in front of the whole of Europe. Our players are so sad. They are so proud to wear the Croatia shirt and play for the Croatian people and we are very sad after playing such a beautiful match.”
Cacic insisted his players lost concentration after the violence as they feared for family and friends who were in the stands. He said: “We knew there was threats that this could happen beforehand. They are sporting terrorists and there is nothing we can do. It hurts so much…”
Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilic, now at West Ham, explained the background to the hostility. “It’s unbelievable what those people are doing. The majority of the fans are telling them to not do it. Some of them are there on a mission,” he said. “It is very sad that we have to talk about this. We have an issue. It started six, seven, eight years ago. There are many fans who are against the Croatian FA. Croatia rarely play in Split … and they think it’s all about Zagreb. It’s between the north and the south.”
Croatia’s track record seems certain to be taken to be into account. “This deserves zero tolerance,” FA boss Davor Suker said in a statement on the federation’s website. “Croatian Football Federation is doing its job, and I call upon government institutions to do theirs. We’ll ask French police for help.”
All three Croatia games at Euro 2012 were disrupted because of flares and fireworks being thrown on the field. Then, UEFA fined the federation a total of €135,000 for a series of incidents including racial insults, fans’ offensive chants and banners.
And UEFA deducted a point from Croatia in Euro 2016 qualifying when fans created a swastika image on the field before a home qualifying match in Split. That game, and a subsequent one, were played in empty stadiums.
UEFA, meanwhile, have also opened proceedings against the Turkish FA following the group game against Spain. The full statement is as follows:
Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the UEFA EURO 2016 group stage match between Czech Republic and Croatia (2-2) in Saint-Étienne.
Charges against the Croatian Football Federation:
– Setting off of fireworks – Art. 16 (2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR)
– Throwing of objects – Art. 16 (2) DR
– Crowd disturbance – Art. 16 (2) DR
– Racist behaviour – Art. 14 DR
Proceedings have also been opened following the UEFA EURO 2016 group stage match between Spain and Turkey (3-0) in Nice.
Charges against the Turkish Football Federation:
– Setting off of fireworks – Art. 16 (2) DR
– Throwing of objects – Art 16 (2) DR
– Field invasion – Art 16 (2) DR
These cases will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on June 20.
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