Croatia Fans Threw Flares, Explosive Onto Pitch
By Ty Duffy
Croatian fans delayed the Croatia vs. Czech Republic match by throwing flares. One appeared to explode on the pitch injuring a steward.
This is far from the first Croatian fan incident. UEFA docked Croatia a point in qualifying for racist behavior and burning a swastika into the pitch. Croatia banned its own fans from matches to avoid incidents. FIFA is forcing Croatia to play its first two home World Cup qualifiers behind closed doors after fascist chanting at matches against Israel and Hungary.
Russia was handed a suspended tournament ban after crowd trouble in Marseilles. One would imagine Croatia will be looking at that, at least. Though embarrassing, discrediting, and excising the current regime seems to be the goal for the Croatian ultras involved in this activity.
Flares themselves aren’t that dangerous. Though, in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, the apparent, flimsy security entering the stadium is rather frightening.