Euro 2024: Croatia has to pay a fine, fans arrested for incidents against Italy

Croatia has been fined 105,000 euros ($112,455) by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body for incidents during its match against Italy at the 2024 European Championships, the Croatian Football Association said on Friday, while police told Reuters of several arrests in connection with the match.

The atmosphere surrounding Monday’s match in Leipzig was in stark contrast to the two previous European Championships in the city. Croatian fans lit several flares in the stadium and plastic cups were thrown onto the pitch several times.

“The Croatian Football Association has been fined 105,000 euros because some Croatian fans threw objects (45,000 euros), lit flares (30,000 euros) and behaved inappropriately (30,000 euros) during the Croatia-Italy match,” it said in a statement.

UEFA has not yet officially announced the sanctions.

Croatia had previously been fined for fans lighting and throwing flares during the match against Albania, and UEFA is also conducting a further investigation into alleged racist or discriminatory behaviour by both groups of fans at the match.

The Leipzig police were on duty before, during and after the Croatia vs. Italy match. Arrests were made and known troublemakers among the Croatian fans were taken into custody until after the match.

“On Monday morning it became known that eight so-called high-risk fans were in the area, whom the federal police had already refused entry to Germany the day before,” a spokesman for the Leipzig police told Reuters.

“Five people were immediately arrested by police forces. During the course of the day, the five people were brought before a judge and their custody was confirmed until Tuesday morning.”

The remaining three were later arrested and the eight were released on Tuesday morning and taken to the border.

According to police, around 10,000 Croatians took part in the fan march and several high-risk fans were checked preventively. The police had to intervene in the stadium because of the repeated use of pyrotechnics.

After the match, around 20 Croatian fans attacked Italian supporters, two of whom had to be hospitalized. The police arrested eleven Croatian and Bosnian suspects and are being investigated for grievous bodily harm.

Leipzig has previously hosted the Portugal vs. Czech Republic and France vs. Netherlands matches. Police said no arrests were made in connection with these matches. The last match will take place in the city on Tuesday, when Austria faces Turkey in the round of 16.