Several days ago, Croatia were winning 2-1 against Czech Republic with just over ten minutes to play in their European Championship clash, when play had to be paused because of in-fighting among the Croatian supporters and flares being thrown onto the pitch. Even players from the national team pleaded with their fans to stop the behaviour and allow the football to re-commence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIsuPbMib-c
It has since transpired, as was explained here on Friday, that the release of flares by the fans was not a random act of madness but rather an orchestrated protest from fans of Hajduk Split in Croatia against the corruption that is rife within Croatian football-corruption which is epitomised by Zdravko Mamic, former executive director and now advisor at Dinamo Zagreb.
Mamic, who is the vice-president of the Croatian Football Federation, has led the way in what Hajduk fans feel is an administration that is grossly unfair towards their club. For example in November 2014 Split fans staged a boycott of their side's big derby game against Zagreb in protest at their unfair treatment (large numbers of fans were to be denied entry to the Zagreb ground).
This week there has been another development in this story as Torcida Split, the Hajduk Split supporters' group, has released an official statement on their website addressing the incidents in the Czech Republic match.
Of course, it should be borne in mind when reading any hyperbole about Mamic that his club and Split are vicious rivals; this statement is not coming from an unbiased source. And Torcida's members are no angels either; attacks on referees and rival fans that have prevented away fans from travelling to Split for games in the past are some of the discretions that tarnish the group's legitimacy in making some of the following remarks.
The statement starts off by openly acknowledging that it was Croatian fans who were at fault for the trouble, but also argues that the fact Croatian fans were prepared to jeopardize their nation's chances in the tournament elucidates just how desperate they are for help to solve the problems rife within football in their country.
Clutching your fist at your own kin is the hardest thing to do, but when all other options are depleted, it is the only way to seek justice. This raises the question of how desperate the fans must be, when they are willing to risk high fines and prison time, just to send a message.
Torcida goes on to deny any direct connection with the events during the game that caused such international outrage and confusion but declare that the "emotional outburst" did not come as a surprise to them and say they tried over the past five years" to raise awareness, they claim, of the "massive dissatisfaction" among the public "with where our national football is heading".
Our Football Federation is crippled with affairs, infested with criminals and run by marionettes and dirty money.
Reference is made to an ongoing case against Mamic in which he stands accused of embezzling money from players' contracts-indeed last year it emerged that current Real Madrid star Luka Modric told police investigators Mamic had pocketed €7 million personally from Modric's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur from Dinamo Zagreb.
Claims are made within the statement accusing Mamic of pocketing money players might receive for appearing in the championships-though these are without proof, as are claims that Dejan Lovren is out of the side for speaking out in public (perhaps a reference to the fact that he took part in the same police investigation as Modric). Before the tournament began manager Ante Cacic told media Lovren wasn't in the squad because he wasn't a "team player".
Barcelona starlet Alen Halilovic's agent hinted that his non-selection might be down to the influence of "powerful people", and Torcida suggests this as well. But again it appears to be based on rumour and innuendo rather than fact.
Further denouncement of Mamic continues. The group claims that Mamic has managed to spin around himself a toasty cobweb of connections at the highest level of Croatian society. According to Torcida he "funded" the presidential campaign of Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the current President of Croatia. He is "a close friend" of both the mayor of Zagreb and the Head of the County Court in Zagreb. And, in turn, when he gets in trouble, he simply "calls in a favor and ends up in the company of high-ranking Government officials like the current First Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko." These are all pieces that the group claims are part of the wider puzzle of what is wrong in Croatian football and, consequently, what caused the uproar in the European Championship match.
Davor Suker is best known to football fans here as a distinguished footballer, one who graced the Bernabeu and Highbury for Real Madrid and Arsenal respectively (and scored that lob against Peter Schmeichel). But the statement from the Split 'ultras' paints a different picture entirely. Suker is currently president of the Croatian Football Federation and he is described here, along with Ante Cacic, the current national team manager, as a "puppet" of Mamic. Torcida claim Mamic sacked the previous incumbent in Cacic's role (Niko Kovač) because he didn't share Cacic's obedient inclinations. Indeed there is somewhat of a sad tone in the group's description of Suker.
Concerning Davor Suker, the current President of our Football Federation, we are sad to say that the days of his glory are far behind him. A player, who was once seen as a national hero, now is nothing more than a criminal offender (convicted of stealing 25.000 Euros worth of Greek golden coins from an airplane) and a puppet of Mamic, who is looking for an easy living at the expense of our Football Federation.
Then there is the extraordinary practice of picking players from GNK Dinamo, or Dinamo Zagreb as we would know them, to raise "their price on the international market". The example given is Jorge Sammir Cruz Campos, who has played seven games for Croatia but none since the 2014 World Cup and whose international career spanned two years before he was sold to Getafe, signing a three and a half year contract. Certainly this would not be the first time this kind of activity has been whispered about in football-but one wonders how any concrete proof would ever be obtained.
The group present a picture of corruption that goes all the way through society.
Croatian fans tried every democratic way to enforce some order in Croatian Football Federation. Even the Croatian parliament, which was pressured by the general public and football fans, passed a law called Sports’ Act , which was supposed to make funding and finances of all sport clubs in Croatia transparent. Croatian Football Federation and GNK Dinamo (both ruled by Zdravko Mamic) issued a statement that the government law does not apply to them and they shall not abide. Predrag Šustar, the current Minister of Sport (under whose authority this law should be enforced) does nothing, because he is a member of the Party funded by Zdravko Mamic. The president of the Republic of Croatia was also member of that same Party.
Again one must be wary of the lack of evidence in these remarks and of the arguably one-sided stance of the group.
After the game against the Czech Republic, UEFA fined Croatia £77,000 for the crowd trouble that occurred and banned the country's Football Federation from selling tickets to "hooligans". However, this fine was delayed until after the tournament, with all tickets to Croatia's final match against Spain having already been sold.
BREAKING: UEFA fine Croatia Football Federation £77,000 over crowd disorder in match against Czech Republic #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/KCmrtgl1Zh
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 20, 2016
After Croatia's sensational performance against Spain, nervous times still lie ahead for the tournament organisers-and for the players, some of whom have expressed fears at being expelled from Euro 2016 if their fans do not tone down their behaviour. In the wake of earlier violence at the tournament, UEFA issued a warning that they will not hesitate to eject countries from the competition if their fans are posing a threat to safety and security.
However the match against Spain passed largely without incident, and all involved will be hoping that, for the duration of the tournament at least, fans can unite behind the team and behave as they did against Spain: with passionate, joyous fervour and delight.
The worry for Croatia and the tournament organisers is that the fans who disrupted the Czech match may not be overly concerned about getting Croatia thrown out of the tournament. The fans' concerns are greater than one competition, and they seem quite prepared to use Euro 2016 as a platform from which to advertise their cause.
