Croatia’s Vida apologizes for Ukraine comments

Croatia defender Domagoj Vida apologized after his team’s World Cup semifinal victory over England on Wednesday for speaking out in support of Russia’s neighbor and adversary Ukraine.

Spectators at Wednesday’s match in Moscow booed and whistled the Croatia center back, after a video posted online earlier in the week showed Vida, a former player with Ukrainian club side Dynamo Kiev, saying “Glory to Ukraine!”

“I know I made a mistake and I would like to apologize again to Russian people,” Vida said, speaking in Russian in a live post-match interview with the Russia-24 state TV channel late on Wednesday.

Russia’s relations with Ukraine have been fraught since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The booing and whistles rang out each time Vida touched the ball in the semifinal against England, starting about 30 minutes into the first half.

World soccer’s governing body FIFA ruled that Vida’s comments in the video were not in keeping with tournament rules about political neutrality, and its disciplinary committee issued a formal warning to the defender.

In an earlier statement released by the Croatian FA, Vida, 29, said his comments were not intended to be political and were related to his former career with Dynamo Kiev.

“Our intention was not to offend anyone,” Vida said.

“I sincerely hope that this message will not be understood as anything else but an expression of gratitude to our friends in Ukraine for their support.”