In his letter released on the Croatian Football Association's official web site, Platini requests an urgent meeting with Croatia's PM in March, recalling that during his last visit to Zagreb in December last year he had pointed out the problem of violence at certain Croatian matches in UEFA competitions.

Keeping in mind the frequent occurrences of violence at certain Croatian matches, which we discussed during a visit to Zagreb last year, we request an urgent meeting with the highest authorities in the Croatian government and football association. We hope that we will come to an agreement to implement key strategic steps required to ensure immediate progress in this situation, Platini's letter reads.

We would request that this meeting be held in March 2013 and request full cooperation that this matter be given the highest priority, he wrote.

We thank you in advance for your understanding and assistance with this particularly sensitive problem. UEFA knows that it can count on the new management team in the Croatian Football Association but now more than ever we need you in our efforts as Croatia's football depends on this, says Platini.

The Croatian Football Association (HNS) issued a press release in response to Platini's letter, in which it says that the letter underscores the problem of order and security at stadiums and the lack of effective measures to curb hooliganism during Croatian football matches.

Croatian football is constantly being scrutinised by UEFA because of the violence that occurs at Croatia matches. It is obvious that these events have overshadowed the valuable and worthwhile sporting results that clubs and the national team achieve and the efforts our national football association has made to promote one of Croatia's most successful brands in Europe and the world, says the press release.

Mr. Platini's letter leaves no room for doubt as to who should take clear and concrete steps and is an obvious message to those responsible in the government to take concrete actions. In that regard, the HNS reiterates its willingness to cooperate with any institution in the country to turn words into action. His letter clearly notes that UEFA recognises the efforts lodged by the HNS management to deal with this problem and the measures taken to curb it. We are grateful for this recognition, but it is more than evident that we cannot deal with this on our own, the HNS says.

We appeal to state bodies to finally come to a consensus to support Croatian sports and in particular the most popular sport in the country - football. UEFA's letter has just added motivation for us to work together and come up with a legal, financial and sporting framework for Croatian sports with the aim of defining and effectively implementing set measures to achieve our objectives, the HNS press release says.

Platini's letter requests that an urgent meeting be held with government officials in March prior to a Serbia-Croatia world championship qualifier scheduled for March 22.