FIFA announced this Tuesday (29) that it has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) over insults by fans of Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan, of Serbian origin, in the match between the teams in Group F. of the World Cup.
FIFA’s decision was due to “discriminatory and xenophobic behavior by some Croatian fans during the game against Canada and due to banners with the same content”, the organization said in a statement.
Croatia eliminated Canada from the Qatar World Cup with a 4-1 thrashing last Sunday.
During the duel in Doha, Croatian fans hurled insults at Borjan, a Croatian-born Serb who, as a child, fled the country during the 1991-1995 conflict.
One of these insults referred to a military operation by Croatian forces in 1995, which ended the war in Croatia and caused more than 200,000 Serbs to flee the country. Borjan’s family was among them.
“Knin 95—nobody runs like Borjan,” read one of the mottos. The text was written on a flag of the American tractor manufacturer John Deere.
It mentions the city of Knin, which was the stronghold of Serb rebels in Croatia, from which many Serbs fled in tractors.
Norjan, whose family migrated to Canada, has never hidden his Serbian origins and, moreover, has defended Red Star Belgrade for several years.
Among other things, the goalkeeper angered many Croatians by declaring, according to some media, that he was not born in Croatia, but in the Srpska Republic, the name of the ephemeral entity created by Serb rebels in Croatian territories under their control.
The proclamation of Croatia’s independence in 1991 provoked a conflict with Serbs who opposed that state, who, supported by Serbia, rebelled against Zagreb.
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