Football Hooliganism Croatia

Croatia

Football hooliganism in Croatia has seen riots over inter-ethic resentments and the politics that were reignited by the breakup of the Yugoslav federation in the 1990s. Two of the most well known hooligan firms are Torcida (Hajduk Split) and Bad Blue Boys (Dinamo Zagreb).

On 13 May 1990, and before the break up of Yugoslavia, Serbian club Red Star Belgrade were in Zagreb to play Dinamo Zagreb at the Maksimir stadium. Red Star brought over 3,000 fans to the game with the late Željko Ražnatović (known as Arka) a Serbian para-military leader being a prominent member. Before the match a number of small scale fights broke out between the Serbian Bad Blue Boys headed by Arka and Dinamo Zagreb ultras. At the match opposing fans started taunting each other with chants, before Red Star fans, all in the South Stand, started to rip out the seating to throw at Dinamo fans. The Yugoslav police present in the stadium, all Serb controlled, and stood at the opposite end of the stadium facing the Dinamo ultras in the North Stand, were alleged to have simply watched as the Red Star fans finally tore down a fence in the South Stand dividing them from Dinamo fans and attacked them, some using knives. The local Croatian ultras, who were all in the North Stand, reacted by ripping down the fence between them and the pitch, and thousands invaded the pitch, with Dinamo fans attacking the police, and some fans getting through the police ranks to attack the Red Star fans. Police reinforcements soon arrived with armoured vehicles and water cannons. The fighting however lasted for over an hour and hundreds of people were injured. The Red Star players all fled to their dressing room. However, some Dinamo players remained on the pitch, including Zvonimir Boban who kicked a policeman who was hitting a fan on the ground with a truncheon. Boban knoced the officer off his feet. The reaction to Bobans actions was swift. He became a hero on Croatia and a villain in Serbia. He was received a six month suspension from the Serbian dominated Yugoslav FA, and the police brought criminal charges against him, although he was never prosecuted. In 2005, the Zagreb daily newspaper Večernji list marking the 15th anniversary of the event wrote, "The game that was never played will be remembered, at least by the soccer fans, as the beginning of the Patriotic War, and almost all of the contemporaries will declare it the key in understanding the Croatian cause.''

Ethnic tension between Croatians and Serbian has also seen fights at a football match in Australia. On 13 March 2005,Sydney United (who have a large Croatian following, and was established by Croatian immigrants) and Bonnyrigg White Eagles (who have a large Serbian following and was established by Serbian immigrants) met in Sydney in the New South Wales Premier League. Shortly before kick off about 50 fans clashed. Two police officers were injured, and five fans arrested with two being charged with assault. Football NSW held an inquiry into the events. Both clubs denied that the fight was racially motivated or that there was any ethnic rivalry.

In an international match between Italy and Croatia, some Croatian hooligans choreographed their positions in the stands to form the shape of a Swastika.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 June 2006, there were ethnic riots in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina after the 2006 FIFA World Cup match between Croatia and Brazil in Germany. One person was shot six police officers injured and 26 people arrested. The fighting started after the match, when Croatian fans started attacking shop windows and vehicles in the Spanish Square in Mostar, and a group of mostly Bosniaks from the Eastern part of Mostar clashed with them. The fighting lasted for hours before riot police finally threw tear gas to break up the groups.