UEFA charges Croatia soccer body for fan disorder, racism

Four years ago, all three Croatia games in Poland were also delayed because of flares and fireworks being thrown on the field.

LYON, France The crowd trouble which disfigured Croatia’s Euro 2016 match against Czech Republic in St Etienne on Friday was premeditated and both police and UEFA had been warned about it, the Croatian football association (HNS) said.

UEFA have brought charges after at least 10 flares were lobbed from the Croatian corner of the Saint-Etienne stadium during the 2-2 draw with Czech Republic on Friday (June 17).

The Czech Republic will wrap up Group D with a fixture against Turkey on Tuesday.

In Group D’s late match, reigning champion Spain produced an imperious performance against Turkey, romping to a 3-0 win and securing safe passage to the knockout stage.

His only appearance came as a substitute in an FA Cup tie with Burnley but it ended in distressing circumstances, the midfielder withdrawn moments after coming on having suffered a thigh injury.

UEFA ordered Croatia to play two Euro qualifying matches behind closed doors, deducted a point and fined the federation 100,000 euros when a Nazi swastika symbol was drawn on a pitch before a Euro qualifier against Italy a year ago.

Exactly why it happened, which provoked clashes among Croatia fans themselves, was not immediately clear.

Russian Federation were handed a suspended disqualification from the tournament and fined £118,000 for charges relating to crowd disturbances, use of fireworks and racist behaviour during the 1-1 draw with England in Marseille.

Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilic, now in charge of West Ham and working as a pundit for ITV, was critical of the fans’ behaviour.

The Turkish federation was also charged for fans lighting and throwing fireworks in their loss against Croatia in Paris. That case will be judged on July 21.

“This deserves zero tolerance”, Suker said in a statement on the federation’s website.

“These people are really scary, that is why I call them hooligans”.

It said Croatia, and everyone connected with football in the country, had been “disgraced by a group of hooligans that hold nothing Croatian sacred”. But punches were then thrown between fans before stewards calmed the situation.

Throwing flares onto the pitch could have been an attempt to get their national team disqualified from Euro 2016 and put enough pressure on the people they want to step down.