The morning after the defeat against Turkey, there was more talk in Osijek about the Ustasha verses that were briefly sung by a few fools than about the match. And not long after the head of the department for prevention, security and integrity of the Croatian Football Association, Josip Jurjević, and spokesman Tomislav Pacak spoke about it, a video of a hooligan who tried to bring an Ustasha flag into the Opus Arena a few days before the match was leaked. Fortunately, the security guards prevented that.
Video: 24sata/Mato Galić
– We hoped to learn something from this lesson when Uefa did not close our stadium due to the riots in Rijeka, but we still have a long process ahead of us to get to what we want. From the beginning, we claim that the union’s position is not some kind of procrastination or conflicts with FARE or UEFA, we have to face the things that happen in the stadiums, these are wider social problems and we have to fight with it as a society. We will see whether we will play without spectators – said Jurjević for Dnevnik Nova TV.
He did not disclose whether the individual was taken into custody.
– We have been cooperating with the police since the beginning of the preparations for both the last and this match, and we thank the police and security guards who prevented this. This only means that we have a serious problem and we cannot know whether the Croatian national football team is the means or the goal of why these messages are sent and what is the motive for someone to harm, I would not say to HNS, which is only a technical support, but to the national team, which has brought so much good to Croatia. We are only a football association and it is difficult to answer what the motives are.
Do you suspect a fan group?
– I wouldn’t characterize it that way, members of all fan groups come to our matches continuously, we can’t point the finger at anyone – he said and concluded:
– This damages the reputation of the entire Republic of Croatia, and there is no bigger brand than the national football team. The closest cooperation we have is with the police, which is excellent, and I can’t say more than that because it goes beyond my scope.
Watch the video of the hooligan who tried to bring the Ustasha flag into the Opus Arena HERE.
