UEFA on Saturday said it was taking action against the Croatian football federation for racism, after witnesses said they heard Croat supporters taunting Italy’s Mario Balotelli and a banana was found on the pitch during Thursday’s Euro 2012 Group C clash.
European football’s governing body said it had opened disciplinary proceedings “for the setting-off and throwing of fireworks, and the improper conduct of supporters (racist chants, racist symbols)” at the match in Poznan, Poland.
“The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on 19 June,” it said in an emailed statement.
Croatia’s management refused to comment on the allegations at a news conference at their training camp base south of the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Saturday. A spokesman told reporters that a statement would be released later.
The action is the first case for racism in the tournament in Poland and Ukraine that started with fears of racist violence at football grounds in the host countries and which has refused to go away.
UEFA is already investigating separate claims that a section of Spanish fans racially abused Balotelli, who is of Ghanaian origin, and that Russian supporters taunted the Czech Republic’s Theodor Gebre Selassie, who is of Ethiopian descent.
