Croatian Football Federation calls for criminal charges against hooligans

The executive committee of the Croatian football federation (HNS) demanded action from authorities to punish the hooligans who threw flares on the pitch during Friday's Euro 2016 contest against the Czech Republic.

UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Croatians for a second time in France, as crowd trouble continues to disrupt matches in Group D.

Related: Croatian manager calls disruptive supporters 'sports terrorists'

A statement from the HNS thanked the "true" fans in attendance in Saint-Etienne, but it also called for a reaction from the country's government.

The statement read:

This is not the first event to appall (the) Croatian public. However, the inefficiency, inactivity, and the lack of desire from the government institutions to start dealing with this issue has encouraged the hooligans to continue with their actions. The Saint-Etienne incident is the product of the passivity of the Croatian state, and today we have all become hostages of a group of hooligans.

We can both rejoice and grieve at the fact that the other fans in Saint-Etienne have reacted to the long-term hooligan torture, lacking any kind of state reaction. Are these fans, families with children, supposed to deal with the problem of the hooligans? Or is the state ready for some specific reactions?

A few hundred hardcore fans caused a similar scene of mayhem in November 2014. They interrupted a Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy at Milan's San Siro after lighting flares and fighting with police. A year later, Croatia had to play another qualifier against Italy behind closed doors in Split, with a swastika pattern appearing on the turf.

Reports suggest it is all in protest of the football federation's vice-president, Zdravko Mamic, who has been investigated for embezzling money while serving as an executive of Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.

These incidents have cost Croatia several fines, and it recently received a stadium ban for its first two 2018 World Cup qualifiers in September and October.