Fifa admits turning blind eye to fascist supporters
Croatia were at the centre of a World Cup cover-up last night after Fifa admitted it had secretly let off its football association with a warning over fascist banners displayed by fans.
Croatia’s march to the semi-finals – where they will face England tomorrow – had been notable for the apparent absence of any bigotry by their supporters, who brought shame on the nation at the last three major tournaments.
But The Daily Telegraph can reveal that, far from having cleaned up their act, Croatia fans have been at it again in Russia.
Fifa is aware of this but chose to keep quiet about it after controversially only warning the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) about the display of “political/discriminatory banners” by supporters.
The governing body confirmed yesterday its disciplinary committee had effectively sanctioned the HNS with a slap on the wrist following the Group D opener against Nigeria. Fifa, which claims to have a zerotolerance approach to racism, failed to respond when asked why there had been no announcement of the punishment or why it had been so lenient given the HNS rap sheet.
Croatia have already been ordered to play their opening Nations League game against England behind closed doors in October after a swastika was marked on the pitch before a European Championship qualifier against Italy. They were also ordered to play their first two World Cup qualifiers in empty stadiums following racist chanting.
Even after those punishments were handed down, the HNS was fined only £88,185 for the display of racist and fascist flags at Euro 2016. It had previously been fined three times at Euro 2012 for supporter offences, including the display of illicit banners and monkey chants directed at Italy’s Mario Balotelli.
Fifa failed to punish far-right banners displayed by Croatia fans at the last World Cup in Brazil. But since launching its anti-discrimination monitoring system in 2015, it has not only imposed stadium bans on the country but has fined the HNS a total of £174,675.
Even as long ago as 2008, Fifa fined the HNS £14,920 after monkey chants were directed at Emile Heskey during England’s 4-1 World Cup qualifying win in Zagreb.
An unequivocal commitment by Croatia to stamping out racism among their fans would be grounds for mitigation in any punishment imposed upon them. But there have been mixed messages on that front, most notoriously surrounding the case of Josip Simunic.
Fifa banned the defender for 10 matches in 2013 for directing Croatia supporters in a fascist chant following a match against Iceland. Not only did the HNS brand the sanction excessive, it appointed Simunic as the country’s assistant manager within weeks of his suspension expiring.