UEFA didn’t provide a timetable on whether Croatia or Turkey will face punishment for Friday’s problems.
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Croatian head coach Ante Cacic later said: “These are not Croatian fans, they are sports terrorists”, although there was more behind the story than initially appeared. One steward was injured when a flare hit and exploded onto his face.
Immediately after the Czech penalty, punches were seen being thrown as Croatian fans briefly fought amongst themselves on the terraces.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic has called for a government session to discuss fan disturbances at the European Championship.
“Ashamed Croatia!” read the front-page headline of the largest circulation Vecernji list daily.
The game was halted in the 86th minute as flares came reigning down from the stands with the Croats leading 2-1.
Earlier last week, French riot police sprayed tear gas and charged England fans in Lille before the England vs Wales match.
Violence around football in Croatia has increased over the past four years since former Croatian worldwide Davor Suker took over the reins of the federation.
And a Croatian Football Federation statement on Saturday read: “The Croatian national football team, Croatian internationals, Croatian football, Croatian fans, and Croatian state have all been disgraced once again at the European stage by a group of hooligans that hold nothing Croatian sacred, and that have ruined a handsome football festival in Saint-Etienne”.
He said: “Croatia rarely play in Split, in my hometown, and they think it’s all about Zagreb”.
Meanwhile, Turkish fans lit flares and threw firecrackers in the stadium as their side lost to Spain in Nice on Friday.
The Czechs play Turkey in their final Group D match on Tuesday.
The supporters, ordered out of the country for disrupting public order, were transported to the airport from a holding centre in Marseille in several vans, an AFP photographer saw.
“The incident in Saint Etienne is indeed the result of this passive attitude of the Croatian state and today we are all hostages of a group of hooligans”.
UEFA also barred Croatia from playing qualifiers in the city of Split, which hosted the 1-1 draw with Italy on June 12 a year ago, when the Swastika was clearly seen on the pitch.
“Having gathered information about the plot, we gave a detailed description three days before the match what was going to happen and notified Croatian and French police as well as UEFA about our findings”, Markovic told a news conference at Croatia’s Deauville base in northern France.
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A Portugal fan who ran on the field to get a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo will cost his national soccer federation a fine.
