Croatia avoids big punishment after flag incident during Latvia match
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Croatia escapes stadium closure
ZAGREB, 2 October 2023 – European football governing body, UEFA, has handed down its sentence after it launched disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) for racism and discrimination during the European Qualifying match between Croatia and Latvia, which took place at the HNK Rijeka stadium last month.
The Croatian Football Federation is currently under conditional punishment for discriminatory behaviour by fans during the UEFA Nations League finals, and many fared this new penalty could potentially activate a one-match ban without spectators.
This is not the case and on Monday HNS confirmed that they have only been fined and cautioned for the incident.
“The appeals body has reached a decision that the Croatian Football Federation has been fined 10,000 euros and will face partial closure of the stadium (at least 1,000 seats) in their next home match in the UEFA competition. The mentioned stadium closure penalty is conditional, with a probationary period of two years from the date of the decision,” HNS confirmed.
UEFA launched disciplinary proceedings after an individual in the Croatian supporter section had displayed a Ustasha flag on several occasions.
“During the latter part of the first half, security personnel noticed two individuals raising an unauthorised flag. They were isolated and handed over to the police, along with the flag,” HNS said earlier.
Two people were prosecuted and the Municipal Court in Rijeka imposed a monetary fine of 1,300 euros on the first defendant, and a 20-day prison sentence on the second defendant.
Additionally, both have been subject to a protective measure prohibiting their attendance at all sports events involving the Croatian national football team within the territory of the Republic of Croatia, with an obligation to report to the police station for two years.
Croatia’s next home game is against Turkey on October 12th in Osijek at the new Opus Arena.
