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Croatia's defender Josip Simunic listens to the national anthem ahead of the World Cup qualifying playoff second leg soccer match against Iceland last night. Darko Bandic/AP/Press Association Images
Probe
Croats celebrate World Cup berth with pro-Nazi chants - reports
Defender Joe Simunic took to the pitch with a microphone after the win over Iceland last night.
CROATIA’S WORLD CUP qualification celebrations have been marred by apparent pro-Nazi chants by fans and defender Joe Simunic.
Croatia qualified for the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Iceland on Tuesday. Video footage shows Simunic taking a microphone to the field after the match and shouting to the fans: “For the homeland!” The fans respond: “Ready!”
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That was the war call used by Ustashas, the Croatian pro-Nazi puppet regime that ruled the state during World War II when tens of thousands Jews, Serbs and others perished in concentration camps.
The Australian-born Simunic defended his action, saying “some people have to learn some history. I’m not afraid.”
“I did nothing wrong. I’m supporting my Croatia, my homeland,” the 35-year-old defender said. “If someone has something against it, that’s their problem.”
The same chant coupled with the Nazi salute has often been used by Croatian fans in the past. FIFA and UEFA have often fined the Croatian Football Association because of their behavior. There was no immediate reaction from FIFA to the latest incident.
At the 2006 World Cup, Simunic was the player who received three yellow cards in one match before being sent off.
One thing I cant understand about these neo nazi groups and sympathizers in countries like Croatia, Ukraine Russia etc. is the fact that they dont seem to realize what the nazies actually thought of their nations. Hitler had a bitter hatred of eastern european races and in his plan, these ethinticities would have been liquidated.
They say politics and sport don’t mix but we have to stop kidding ourselves. Sporting events have long been exploited by political elites to further their own political agendas and ideologies. Think Hitler and the ‘Aryan Showcase’ at the 1936 Berlin Olympics or the American (et al) abstention from the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow to name but two prominent examples. As for Croatia, it has a long history of ethnic and religious conflict with it’s neighbours and was host to one of the most sadistic fascist movements in history under Andrija Artuković (who incidentally was given shelter in Ireland for a time) with the Ustaše regime which was closely allied to the German Nazi party and many other right wing Catholic dictatorships such as those in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Czechoslovakia. It further merits mention to paraphrase Christopher Hitchens in one of his last interviews before his death – ‘If you are writing about the history of the 1930s and the rise of Totalitarianism, you can replace the word ‘fascist’ with ‘the extreme right Catholic party’ and you need not change another word, it will mean precisely the same thing.’ http://youtu.be/tRBrjt7z5Cw
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One thing I cant understand about these neo nazi groups and sympathizers in countries like Croatia, Ukraine Russia etc. is the fact that they dont seem to realize what the nazies actually thought of their nations. Hitler had a bitter hatred of eastern european races and in his plan, these ethinticities would have been liquidated.
Croatia during world war 2 was a Nazi puppet state. It’s the Serbs, Bosnians and Albanians they couldn’t stand.
They say politics and sport don’t mix but we have to stop kidding ourselves. Sporting events have long been exploited by political elites to further their own political agendas and ideologies. Think Hitler and the ‘Aryan Showcase’ at the 1936 Berlin Olympics or the American (et al) abstention from the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow to name but two prominent examples. As for Croatia, it has a long history of ethnic and religious conflict with it’s neighbours and was host to one of the most sadistic fascist movements in history under Andrija Artuković (who incidentally was given shelter in Ireland for a time) with the Ustaše regime which was closely allied to the German Nazi party and many other right wing Catholic dictatorships such as those in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Czechoslovakia. It further merits mention to paraphrase Christopher Hitchens in one of his last interviews before his death – ‘If you are writing about the history of the 1930s and the rise of Totalitarianism, you can replace the word ‘fascist’ with ‘the extreme right Catholic party’ and you need not change another word, it will mean precisely the same thing.’ http://youtu.be/tRBrjt7z5Cw
Oh dear James another anti-Catholic rant. Croatia is a beautiful country and it’s people warm and friendly. Your ignorance is contemptible. Jog on.