Croatia Euro Fine: UEFA Hands Croatian FA €100,000 (£77,000) Fine for Crowd Disorder During Czech Republic Match

Europe’s football governing body has decided on the Croatia Euro fine: €100,000 and prohibit tickets sales to “certain fans.”

(Image credit: The Guardian)

Croatia Euro fine contains two sets of penalties

UEFA’s Disciplinary Committee gave the following statement on the Croatia Euro Fine:

“Charges relating to crowd disturbances, use of fireworks, throwing of missiles and racist behaviour had been brought against the HNS (Croatian Football Federation – Hrvatski nogometni savez), and the CEDB decided to impose the following sanctions:

– A fine of €100,000

– To prohibit the HNS from selling tickets to certain fans (identified by the HNS and the Croatian authorities as hooligans) for the remained of the EUFA EURO 2016. This sanction is deferred under a probationary period until the end of the tournament.”

The statement further highlighted the Croatia Euro fine can be appealed, should HNS choose to do so. “The decision of the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body are open to appeal.”

Croatia were on course to clinch another 3 points in last Friday’s group game against the Czech Republic, however towards the end of the game a number of ugly scenes erupted from the stands that held Croatian fans. A fight between the Croatian supported seems to have broken out in the stands right after a number of flairs and firecrackers were lit and thrown onto the pitch.

The game’s referee Mark Clattenburg decided to temporarily suspend the action until it was safe for the players to return to the game. Soon after the match resumed, the Czechs were legitimately awarded a penalty in the 89th minute, after Croatia’s Domagoj Vida played the ball with his hand in the box. Substitute Tomas Necid successfully converted the penalty that saw the game end level, with 2-2 on the scoreline.

Croatia Euro fine aims to restrict entrance to “hooligans” for further matches

(Video credit: Sky Football)

The Croatian FA has issued an official statement whereby they apologize for the events that unfolded at Saint-Etienne, but warn the incident was caused by a “small group of hooligans” while praising the “true Croatian fans” for their support during the game. “These fans and these players, considering the great atmosphere the national team has generated in Croatia, make it even more difficult to accept that a small group of hooligans have stolen joy from Croatian fans and Croatian team.”

“Croatian Football Federation would like to apologize to the spectators at Saint-Etienne, to the television audience, and the Czech Republic national football team, for the behaviour of the hooligans who do not represent Croatian fans, but represent a responsibility of all us in Croatia. Once again, HNS strongly condemns all illegal behaviour in the stands, from racism to discrimination and violence,” read the statement.

BBC journalist, Andy Mitten, describes the scenes as they unfolded in front of his eyes. “I was in a section full of Croatia fans. The team was playing really well, everything was good, the people around me were happy but then I noticed a big line of police and soldiers building up in front of the Croatia end,” said Mitten. ”It became clear they knew something was going to happen and it did happen. I saw fighting. It was horrible to watch. It went on for two or three minutes.”

Following these events Slaven Bilic, Croatia boss from 2006 to 2012 and the current ITV commentator for Euro 2016, attempted to clarify the reasons for the incident and warned that other similar scenes may very well erupt again during a Croatia match. “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. It’s probably not the last time they’ll do it,” said the current West Ham manager.

“Back home it’s not the greatest league, but it’s competitive. When there’s a big derby between (Dinamo) Zagreb and (Hajduk) Split people are not taking their kids because they know it’ll be dangerous,” Bilic said.

Croatia Euro fine will be on the minds of Croatian players in their last group game

Croatia last played Spain in the final group game of Euro 2012
(Image credit: Zimbio)

Croatia will play their final group game tonight against Spain, for which they need to clinch at least a draw 3.10 (21/10) to ensure their qualification to the next round. Otherwise they risk being pushed down to the third position in the group, from which only four of the best sides from the six groups will progress to the knock-out rounds.

Ante Cacic’s men are heavy underdogs 5.00 (4/1) heading into the game against Spain 2.00 (1/1), per online sportsbook Bet365. However, Vicente Del Bosque may be looking to rest some of his key players in their final group game, as Spain have already ensured their qualification to the last 16 round, after collecting 6 points from wins against Czech Republic (1-0) and Turkey (3-0).

(For more info about the online sportsbook, check out Betting Herald’s Bet365 Sports Review.)

Coincidentally, the last time Spain and Croatia faced each other was also in the final group game of Euro 2012 in Poland & Ukraine. Jesus Navas scored the solitary goal in the match that sent Croatia packing home with only 4 points to their name, while Spain later went on reach the final where they easily overcame Italy with an impressive 4-0 victory that saw them defend their European title.

Croatia started Euro 2016 as a promising side for the tournament, however in light of the UEFA fine, Croatia has been pushed down the pecking order with chances of 23.00 (22/1) for winning the Euros, per online sportsbook odds. At the moment they’re facing a great deal of both internal and external pressure, which might very well influence their on-the-pitch performance against La Roja tonight.

France were the biggest favourites to clinch the trophy on home soil at the start, while defending champions Spain were second favourites, however now the odds have been shifted – Spain are now the favourite 4.00 (3/1), with France having underdog chances 4.50 (7/2). But the odds are sure to fluctuate again as the tournament progresses. Germany are still third favourites 5.50 (9/2), despite so far going through an unconvincing spell in performances, while England 11.00 (10/1), Belgium 11.00 (10/1), Italy 12.00 (11/1) and Portugal 17.00 (16/1) are all viewed as unrealistic targets for the Henri Delaunay trophy.