Police in the Croatian city of Split arrested at least 12 Hajduk Split supporters, a day after hardcore fans staged an anti-Semitic march, clashed with police and disrupted the club's match against Dutch visitors Ajax.
According to police, the arrests were carried out on Friday, after thousands of fans chanted insults aimed at Jews and praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ahead of the match on Thursday evening. The group marched behind a car carrying a model coffin bearing the name of Ajax, a club long associated with Amsterdam's Jewish community.
The behaviour drew widespread condemnation in Croatia. President Zoran Milanovic and the country's conservative government sharply criticised the fans and demanded firm action. Police said 12 people had been arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and hatred, and did not rule out further arrests.
Hajduk fans also clashed with police and interrupted the match for 12 minutes by throwing flares and other objects onto the pitch.
Hajduk went on to beat Ajax 2-1 in the UEFA Conference League — the hosts' first major European match in 16 years.
The Croatian Football Federation said in a statement that the incident had damaged the image of Croatian football and described the fans' behaviour as wholly contrary to "the basic values of sport: mutual respect, tolerance and solidarity."
President Milanovic called for "measures and sanctions that show there is no place for the glorification of fascism in Croatia."
Croatia's government has long been accused of turning a blind eye to the rise of extremist and far-right nationalism linked to the World War II-era regime that collaborated with Nazi Germany, though the government denies this.
Milorad Pupovac, the political leader of Croatia's Serb community — a group that suffered under the pro-Nazi regime — said it was "only a matter of time before we reached this point, as happened in Split."
Tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians were killed in World War II concentration camps in Croatia. Ethnic nationalist Croatians once used a pro-fascist World War II song as a symbol of the struggle for independence from the former Serb-led Yugoslavia.
The incident in Split was also condemned by Israel's embassy in Zagreb, which said it was "deeply shocked" and urged the Croatian government to respond.
Hajduk Split, which could face disciplinary action from UEFA over the match disruption, apologised for the behaviour of its fans but said it reflected only a section of the support. "Despite our best efforts, shameful things happened, but we are ready to take responsibility as a club," the club said in a statement.
