The government and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will draw up an analysis of the situation in Croatia in terms of a legal framework and all other elements regarding prevention of violence at football matches, Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic told the press on Monday after a meeting of top government officials, UEFA representatives and representatives of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS).
Apart from Ostojic, the meeting was attended by Croatian Science, Education and Sports Minister Zeljko Jovanovic, members of the UEFA Executive Committee, chairman of the UEFA Stadium and Security Committee Frantisek Laurinec and HNS president Davor Suker.
Stressing that the Croatian government would do everything to prevent violence at stadiums, Ostojic said the problem was not the legislation but its enforcement.
Underlining that the UEFA delegation was welcome in Croatia as a partner and not as a tutor, Minister Jovanovic said that only a joint approach in which each side defined its part of the job, with the coordination of the national body for fighting violence at sporting events, can achieve the common objective - and that is that Croatian fans be ambassadors wherever football matches are played.
Stressing that Croatia was one of the countries that received the highest amount of fines and that he was here to resolve this problem, Laurinec said UEFA had excellent cooperation with the HNS.
HNS president Suker expressed satisfaction with today's meeting, announcing the candidacy of one Croatian city for the European football championships in 2020.
