Zagreb, 15 April 2013

SUMMARY REPORT ON THE 27TH ROUND OF THE HNL

As part of its project "Direct Prevention of Fan Violence," observers from the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO) monitored matches in the 27th round of the Croatian Football League (HNL) and noted the following incidents:

RNK Split – HNK 3:1 The match was played on Friday, 12 April 2013 at 6:00 p.m. at the Youth Park Stadium in Split before about 1,000 fans, among whom were about 100 member of Armada (HNK Rijeka). The match was played in a peaceful atmosphere without the use of pyrotechnic devices. This atmosphere was destroyed n the 40th minute with Armada's chanting of "Tovar cunts," followed by "I hate Purgers, I hate Tovars, Rijeka Armada! I hate Dinamo, I hate Hajduk, Rijeka Armada!" In the 77th minute there was the now customary, and unavoidable, "HNS faggots, you have fucked up football."

NK – NK Zadar 1:0 The match was played on Saturday, 13 April 2013 at 4:00 p.m. at the City Garden Stadium in Osijek in front of about 2,500 spectators. There were about 500 members of Cohort, the fans of NK Osijek, who were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their founding. In the 26th minute Cohort celebrated its 25th birthday by lighting about 10 smoke bombs. They repeated this in the 73rd minute, and in the 82nd minute they chanted, "We hate Tovars and we always bugger them!"

HNK Hajduk – HNK Cibalia 2:1 The match was played on Saturday, 13 April 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Poljud Stadium in Split in front of about 4,000 spectators, among whom were 700-800 members of Torcida (fans of HNK Hajduk), and about 40 members of the (HNK Cibalia). In the 16th minute the first smoke bomb was lit, followed in the 59th minute by seven to eight flares and five large red flares. In the 43rd minute the fans of Cibalia chanted "HNS faggots, you have fucked up football."

GNK Dinamo – NK Inter-Zaprešić 2:0 The match was played on Sunday, 14 April 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at Maksimir Stadium before about 1,000 spectators, among whom were about 300 members of the Bad Blue Boys (BBB – fans of GNK Dinamo). In the 20th minute BBB lit the first flare, and in the 36th minute one was thrown onto the tartan track of the stadium. In the 55th minute they chanted, "Mamić, you Gypsy, get out of the holy place." In the 70th minute the flare "bombardment" began. About ten flares were thrown onto the tartan track, and one of them landed on the playing field itself. Although there was a noticeable decline in recent rounds of racial epithets, HHO thinks it worthwhile to continue to call on all clubs and their fans, especially the organized fan groups, to be warned that in accordance with the Action Plan of HNS, at the beginning of matches, and during any incidents, athletic events are not a place for racism, sexism, ethnic and other forms of intolerance and wildness, and calls on them to display appropriate sporting behavior. What probably has contributed to a "calming of passions" is the fact that the Croatian national football team, based on its successes, has risen to fourth in the world, which in a way, refutes and shows the absurdness of chanting against the HNS and insulting its leadership, beginning with its president Davor Šuker and including the selector Igor Štimac.

For the Croatian Helsinki Committee

Ivan Zvonimir Čičak President