Police detain dozen Hajduk Split supporters after Nazi‑style chants during Ajax match
Police in Split, Croatia, arrested at least twelve supporters of the Hajduk Split football club on Friday, a day after a hostile crowd staged an anti‑Semitic rally, clashed with officers and disrupted a match against Dutch side Ajax. The arrests followed a Thursday night when thousands of fans shouted anti‑Jewish slurs and chanted in praise of Adolf Hitler before the game. They marched behind a vehicle carrying a mock coffin bearing the Ajax name, a symbol often linked to the club’s historic Jewish community.
The incident drew swift condemnation from across the country. President Zoran Milanović and members of the conservative government denounced the behavior and called for punitive measures. Police said the twelve detainees face charges of inciting violence and hatred and hinted that more suspects could be taken into custody.
During the match, Hajduk fans threw flares and other objects onto the pitch, forcing a twelve‑minute pause in play. Despite the disruption, Hajduk secured a 2‑1 victory over Ajax in the UEFA Conference League, marking the club’s first major European appearance in sixteen years.
The Croatian Football Association issued a statement saying the episode tarnished the nation’s football reputation and ran counter to the basic values of sport, namely mutual respect, tolerance and togetherness. Milanović urged “measures and sanctions that will show there is no place for glorification of Nazism in Croatia.”
The government has long faced accusations of turning a blind eye to rising nationalist and far‑right sentiment tied to Croatia’s World War II era, when a regime collaborated with Nazi Germany. Officials have denied such claims. Milorad Pupovac, leader of the ethnic Serb community in Croatia, warned that the Split incident was “just a question of time” before similar events occur. During the war, tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti‑fascist Croats perished in concentration camps on Croatian soil. Some nationalist groups have revived a World War II chant associated with the pro‑Nazi Ustaše as a symbol of Croatia’s struggle for independence from the former Yugoslavia.
The Israeli embassy in Zagreb also condemned the chants, describing itself as “deeply shocked” and urging a firm governmental response.
Hajduk Split, which could face disciplinary action from UEFA over the match interruption, issued an apology, stating that the misconduct reflected only a portion of its supporters. “Despite all efforts, things happened that we are not proud of, but we are ready to take the consequences as a club,” the team said in a statement.