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Croatia to appeal UEFA ban

Xinhua, April 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Croatian Football Federation (CFF) decided on Thursday it would appeal UEFA ban but its president Davor Suker knows that this is an uphill battle and shares little optimism about a positive outcome.

UEFA ordered on Wednesday Croatia to play its next EURO 2016 qualifying match against Italy in June 12 behind closed doors, because of racist behavior of supporters and throwing of missiles and fireworks during the match against Norway in Zagreb on March 28. Additionally, Croatian Football Association has also been fined 55,000 Euros for those violations of UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.

"We will appeal but we know that our chances are small. The decision to play the match behind closed doors is saddening, but we talked about such a possibility many times in the past and many thought that this won't ever happen. The UEFA Disciplinary Regulations are in force from 2013 and we were among the countries that voted for it," Suker said at the CFF Executive Board meeting held in Plitvice.

This ban comes at the wrong time for Croatian football, just when the war hatchets were buried between CFF chiefs and representatives of Hajduk Split. Split, the coastal town with ancient Roman palace and the second largest Croatian city, hasn't hosted a qualifying match of the national team for almost four years.

Split doesn't want to host the match due to the ban, but CFF leaders want to hold it at Poljud Stadium regardless of the imposed sanction.

"We will organize that match as we would in any other city. We would welcome any help from locals but we can do it without their assistance, as well," CFF executive president Damir Vrbanovic said on Thursday.

"It's a big financial loss for our Federation, for Split, for tourism and for football in general. We can identify those responsible people for the actions that led to the UEFA sanctions. I hope that the state and the police will enforce the law," added Suker. Endite