The Disciplinary Committee of the European Football Association (UEFA) has fined Zagreb’s Dinamo 200,000 euros due to fan violence during the UEFA Cup match in Udine.
The amount has shocked the club’s officials as, based on previous information from Nyon, no one expected such a high financial penalty to be imposed. "I am personally astonished and taken aback by the amount of the fine. To my knowledge, no club has been punished with such a drastic financial penalty for similar incidents. Regarding the details of the penalty, we have no further comments at this time," stated director Damir Vrbanović on the official website of the Zagreb club.
The penalty relates to matches against Spartak and Udinese due to the violence of the "Blues" fans and the use of pyrotechnics. Dinamo must immediately pay 100,000 euros, while the remaining amount will not have to be paid if its fans do not cause any incidents in the next three years.
In response to the penalty imposed by UEFA on Dinamo, Deputy Prime Minister Đurđa Adlešić issued a statement. "The penalty imposed on Dinamo for the misdeeds of its fans represents one of the largest fines in the history of Croatian football, which clearly shows what football Europe thinks about hooliganism. We must keep in mind that this penalty could have been much harsher, and therefore we can certainly understand this as a final warning from Europe. This is yet another signal to us in Croatia that it is high time to decisively deal with hooligans in football stands," Adlešić stated. "It is also evident that we will have to insist on the maximum rigorous enforcement of laws that should finally put an end to violence and chaos in sports competitions," the statement reads.
