March 6 – The Croatian Football Federation (HNS), in cooperation with UEFA, has set up an independent commission to review and investigate the recordings of the discussions between referees and the VAR rooms in several matches from the Croatian top tier that have led to accusations of match fixing.
The recordings that were released last weekend led to the resignation of Bruno Marić, resident of Croatia’s referees’ commission, who had received a series of threats that prompted him to quit his post
“The Croatian Football Association has established a special expert commission that will analyse all the disputed situations that arose from the public publication of unauthorized recordings of communication in the VAR room. During the past week, audio recordings of the communication inside the VAR room and between the VAR room and the head referee appeared in the public, which were illegally downloaded and further distributed,” said an HNS statement.
“The Croatian Football Association has decided to establish an independent body whose task will be to analyse in detail all disputed situations, including the (in)correct use of the VAR protocol, the accuracy of decisions, the adequacy of communication and the conclusions of the Commission of Football Referees in these situations,” the statement continues.
“It is our responsibility to fully clarify all disputed situations from the current competition year, including those that appeared in the public last week. We have concluded that this can only be done by an independent body, to which we have appointed top experts. I thank Uefa President Aleksander Čeferin who expressed his understanding of this situation, and UEFA recommended to us one of its greatest authorities in this area, Darko Čeferin, who shares with the president of UEFA only his last name, not any family ties. I thank my colleagues from NZS (Slovenian FA) who made it possible for us with Darko, we will agree on engagement in this committee, and I thank Lada, Mira and Darko for accepting this responsible task, and I am convinced that their report will enable us to make quality further decisions,” said HNS president Marijan Kustić .
The committee will submit a detailed report to the Executive Board, after which the association will decide on any action to be taken.
“We have been monitoring the situation with the release of VAR communication in the Croatian media, and I respect the strong will of President Kustić to completely clear up all the disputed moments that have arisen along the way. HNS will have maximum support from UEFA in the further development of refereeing in Croatia, which is why we recommended Darko, the long-time UEFA controller of refereeing, who has an excellent knowledge of the Croatian language, which is extremely important in this case, and who will guarantee neutrality and professional authority within the framework of the newly established commission,” said UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1734913781labto1734913781ofdlr1734913781owedi1734913781sni@o1734913781fni1734913781