Italy and Croatia played to a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2016 qualifying match on Friday. The match was played behind closed doors due to previous racist chants from Croatian supporters in a match against Norway. It turns out keeping the fans out of the stadium wasn’t enough to prevent more racist actions.
Italy complains to UEFA about swastika mowed into the pitch in Croatia
The match was already played behind closed doors due to previous racist actions from Croatian supporters.
@tancredipalmeri
How Uefa will react to the nazi sign designed on the pitch of Croatia-Italy that was played behind closed doors? pic.twitter.com/SsTP5I2OFw
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 12, 2015 Italy complain to Uefa over swastika spotted in pitch (pic: AP) http://t.co/u7Ekf6DnEw pic.twitter.com/9JZGEjq9uX
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) June 12, 2015 Yeah, that would appear to be a swastika deliberately mowed into the pitch at the Stadion Poljud in Split. Italy took notice and made an official complaint to UEFA, according to The Guardian. UEFA officials were alerted of the swastika during the match and the grounds crew worked on covering it during halftime. Croatian Football Association president Davor Suker admitted there is an issue.
“We have this problem, which is the fans do not respect the rules,” Suker said, via The Guardian. “We will talk about it tomorrow. Am I angry? Yes.”
This is not the first issue that’s occurred during a Italy vs. Croatia match. The European Championship qualifying match between the two sides in November had to be suspended because of Croatian supporters throwing flares on the pitch while lighting fireworks and scuffling with police.
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