Fans set off flares, Croatia faces heavy punishment from UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will investigate the disturbance and the throwing of flares onto the pitch from the stands of Croatian fans during the match against the Czech Republic.

When the score was favorable for Croatia, the match against the Czech Republic went very smoothly. The situation only became tense after the Czech Republic scored a goal to reduce the score to 1-2 in the 76th minute. The Croatian fans started fighting in the stands and continuously threw flares onto the field.

Croatian fans throw flares onto the pitch. (Photo: Getty)

The incident caused the match to be interrupted for a few minutes, and a member of the organizing committee was slightly injured. After the match, coach Ante Cacic said that the extremists were the reason why Croatia lost the victory: "The players lost focus because they were worried that their friends and family might be injured in the chaos in the stands."

Following this latest incident, UEFA announced that it will investigate and impose appropriate sanctions upon receiving referee Clattenburg's report.

This is not the first time Croatian fans have caused trouble. In the Euro 2016 qualifiers in Milan, Italy in 2014, the match between Croatia and Italy was also interrupted for 10 minutes due to a similar incident.

Croatia has received disciplinary action from FIFA for racist behavior by fans during friendly matches with Israel and Hungary last March./.

According to VOV