Australian-born soccer player fined for Nazi chants
Josip Simunic has been fined 25,000 kuna [$4,800] for chanting pro-Nazi slogans following his Croatian team’s World Cup playoff victory against Iceland in Zagreb.
Joe Simunic
Europsort.com reported that Simunic “took the microphone turned to the stands and shouted “Za dom” (for the Homeland), to which the audience replied “Spremni” (Ready).
The call-and-response salute is widely associated with Croatia’s Nazi-allied Ustasha regime, which ruled in 1941-45 and brutally persecuted Jews, Serbs, Gypsies and anti-fascist Croats.”
The web site also reports in a statement on its website, prosecutors of the Zagreb county court said on Thursday Simunic was found guilty of public disturbance and inciting ethnic hatred.
“He was aware that it symbolises the official salute from the time of Croatia’s totalitarian regime and as such represents a racist ideology,” the statement said.
Simunic said in a separate statement he meant nothing wrong.
“As a Croatian who was born and grew up outside my homeland, I associate home with love, warmth and positive struggle – everything we showed on the pitch to win our place in the World Cup,” he said.
Simunic was born in Canberra and was coached at the Australian Institute of SPort before joining the Melbourne Knights. He won the NSL Youth Player of the Year Award in 1996. He moved to Europe in 1998 and although eligible to play for Australia internationally he chose to play for Croatia despite his parents being Bosnian. He is the third most capped Croatian player.
The fine was imposed by the Croatian public prosecutor but it has been reported that soccer’s governing body FIFA is also considering action.
Mario
you must be the most incredibly ignorant character to roll up on a Jewish web site and carry on in this way about this famous fascist , one of the most anti semitic political organisation before and during WWII, the bloddy criminal ustasha.
Do you really believe that we don’t know who they were , who Poglavnik Ante Pavelic was, what was the Jasonevac extermination camp !!
“Za dom” was the official ustasha salute, identical to the nazi “heil H…!”
and today’s Croatian laws forbid the use of the salute.
Ustasha is one of the most cursed names/political entities here.
Various versions of this greeting Croats used nearly 500 years. So I do not see where this greeting are linked to the WW2, WW2 variants is “For the Leader and home – we’re are ready. This particular Šimunić version “Za dom – spremni!” variant dates back to the 19th century ” Nikola Subic Zrinski in the struggle against the Turks, the version was Za dom spremni! (“For home(land) – ready!”) There is no need for Šimunić to apologize, Šimunić did not do anything wrong. And whoever understood it wrong is their problem not Šimunić’s.
In WWII the Serbian government under General Milan Nedic worked closely with Nazi officials in making Belgrade the first city “Judenfrei” Croat Tito -who represented a truly multiethnic resistance to the Nazis. Tito himself was Croat and one of his chief advisers, Moshe Piade, was Jewish. In WWII Croatian solider was called Domobran and Ustase established by Italy never had a political party or were ever elected by the people. Serbia made ustasha! Widespread acts of murder and violence by Srbian Catnik in Croatia made Ustashe, when Serbs sought “Greater Serbia”!
Mario
You are either brain-washed or trying to deny your country’s ugly past. Milan Nedic, barely carried any weight in Serbia, this is well-documented in historical accounts by objective observers. The recognised leader of the Chetniks was General Draza Mihailovic who vehemently fought the Nazi’s. As for Tito, the truth is he was not Croatian, but Austrian.
The World will not forget Jasenovac and Croatia’s Fascist past. I suggest Croatia starts admitting its past flaws so that it can move on and become a more tolerant society.
George, you are absolutely right in everything, but Tito was 1/2 Croat and 1/2 Slovenian. No Austrian traces at all except that when he was born, Coatia and Slovenia belonged to Austro-Hungary.