RACIST CROATIA FINED

Emile Heskey abuse lands Croatian FA with £15,000 penalty

ABUSED: Heskey battles with Croatia's Luka Modric but was abused during the World Cup qualifier

25/09/2008

THE Croatian FA has been fined £15,000 for the racist behaviour of fans during the World Cup qualifier against England earlier this month, FIFA said on Thursday.

"The Croatian Football Federation ... received a warning regarding its future conduct. Further infringements would lead to more severe sanctions by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee,", the world governing body said in a statement.

The English FA complained to FIFA after England players were racially abused by Croatia fans during their 4-1 victory in Zagreb on Sept. 10.

"Racism has no place in football," a FIFA said."FIFA is determined to continue broadcasting this message around the globe and deploying all of the means at its disposal to eliminate this form of discrimination."

Croatian FA Secretary-General Zorislav Srebric said he saw the fine as the most serious warning.

Serious

"We are not happy about it because any such fine means less money for soccer development in Croatia. However, we understand this as the most serious warning to stick firmly to all FIFA regulations," an online edition of the Jutarnji List daily quoted Srebric as saying.

"The fight against racism or any other form of discrimination must be insisted upon on a daily basis," he said.

The English FA welcomed FIFA's decision. "We repeat our position that we will not accept any racial abuse of any England

players. There can be no place for racist behaviour in football or society," it said in a statement.

Your comments

This article has 1 comment

So, The Croatian FA has been fined £15,000 for the racist behaviour of fans during the World Cup qualifier against England earlier this month, £15,000?
How will being fined that pathetic amount spur the Croation FA into action to stop future disgraceful racist taunts?
A mere slap on the wrist, and it won't change the attitude of Croation 'supporters' one iota.
Instead future matches involving Croatia at home should be played behind closed doors.

Just what would have been the outcry and punishment should England supporters have done similar? We can be sure it would be a whole lot worse than a ridiculous fine.

By Alan Potter. Posted September 25 2008 at 9:42 PM.

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