Croatia is the latest nation to feel the wrath of UEFA, who having already fined them £20,000 due to the unruly behaviour of their supporters in their opening game against the Republic of Ireland, are now investigating claims that a large section of fans were racially abusing Mario Balotelli in the recent game against Italy.
A banana was thrown onto the pitch and a section of around 500 Croatian fans were reportedly involved in repeated racist chanting towards the Manchester City striker.
The executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), Piara Powar said that UEFA have been sent a report of the incident:
“We have got two observers at every match and we make sure that they speak the language of the two teams involved.
“Our observers reported between 300-500 Croatian fans were involved in racist chanting in the match against Italy. That is a big number. It was fairly intermittent but progressive throughout the game. It intensified when Balotelli was substituted.
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“Our Italian observer is a fairly seasoned football fan and said he was shocked by what he had seen and heard. We have given a report to UEFA and they will now open an inquiry. We are looking at what other evidence there may be.” (Yahoo)