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Published: December 12th 2013
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We had originally bought a return ticket to Zgareb , but it transpired that the return bus for the Sunday morning didn't exist. We purchased a single on another company, but were assured that a refund on the unused portion would be "no problem". The problems started as we approached the first toll booth entrance to get back on the motorway to Zgareb. The bus inexplicably did a U turn. The other passengers remained calm, as we headed off down a side road. After observing road signs, I figured out we were on a diversion .... a diversion that probably lasted 40 miles. It was later revealed in a newspaper that there had been a serious accident somewhere near the 6 km tunnel on Saturday, 30 odd vehicles involved, deaths etc and as a result the motorway remained closed. The U19 match at NK Zagreb was not going to happen.
The rest of journey passed. We joined the motorway, after a magical mystery tour that demonstrated that the motorway had been of more benefit to central Croatia than HS2 is likely to be for the majority. Police started to appear on service stations. Cars were being searched ........... presumably cars
Torcida
Hajduk Split from Split and the objective was to intercept the Hajduk boys en route to Zagreb. A road block was set up about 50 miles outside Zagreb and vehicles were diverted into a service station. A Police state in action. Further roadblocks ensued. The reason ............... football.
The reason for Dinamo's refusal to sell us a ticket was becoming clear. In the last few days, a new law had been passed. If you want ticket for away sector you have to be member of club, give full ID to club and then club will decide if you get a voucher or not. If you do not have the voucher you will not be allowed to buy tickets for away sectors. As with Luton Town all those years ago, the football community set about trying to defeat the system. Under normal circumstances, the two ultra groups of Dinamo and Hajduk would rather organise a pitched battle. However, the Torcida from Hajduk got help from Bad Blue Boys of Dinamo Zagreb and tried to buy tickets en masse for the West tribune. Dinamo then decided that only club members and kids from 15 years and down can buy tickets for that Stand
and hence their point blank refusal to sell to us.
There was a widespread refusal to adhere to system across Croatia and hence the reason why Istra 1961 turned up in the home supporters stand for the NK Zadar match. On the Friday before the match Dinamo's Execute President Mamic said that the Torcida group could enter the South tribune (guest sector) at the Maksimir without these so called vouchers. Mamic is Public enemy number 1 it seems, as the perception in Croatia is that he not only controls the Croatian FA, but also the law. An extreme point of view maybe, but then he was effectively opening up his stadium against the law that had just been implemented by the Police a few days before. The cat and mouse continued. In order to keep the South tribune defintely open, the Torcide authorised 4 fans to follow the legitimate procees, become members, get the vouchers and ultimately the tickets for the away end.
The cunning plans didn't stop there. Torcida from Hajduk formed a truce with the Bad Blue Boys and decided to take the East stand together. Great ..... we've got tcikets for the East Stand. This
will be fun! We had arrived after our detour, checked in the hostel and made our way to the Maksimir so as to be early in anticipation of lots of security on entry. After securing a badge, we were sat in a bar near the ground when hordes marched past. The Hajduk group had walked from the city centre surrounded by riot police. They were joined by the Bad Blue Boys. The police seemed to decide to abandon ship at this point, waved the group through and seemingly made no attempt to stop them or show ID on entry to the stadium.
The rest of us were not able to repeat the story and an almighty crush ensued to gain entry. Organisation? It was lacking. There were women and kids, all just wanting to get in, being penned in by the solid barrier of riot police. There were others who tried to get near the ticket offices, which remained open to sell more tickets. The pasport picture ID was shown to get through the first barrier, shown again near the turnstile and so on. They actually did look at the ID versus the ticket with a name on it
too! The riot police seemed to have lists of the banned to compare with the tickets. In theory FIFA and UEFA have employed this tactic for the last few big international tournaments, but have usually not enforced it due to the practicalities it causes for security. The Croatian police seemed intent on making the idea feasible, albeit with a crowd of a mere 10,000.
We got in comfortably in advance of kick off. The two groups stood side by side in the East Stand. A few stweards were present, but no realistic segregation took place. The Torcida gand Bad Blue Boys took turns to sing abuse at the instigators of the new policy, the Croatian FA, the police, UEFA and anybody in the West Stand. The few noises that emanated from the West Stand were instantly drowned out. Meanwhile with 1000 police on duty, perhaps a few might be deployed in the East. Not one!! They remained under the stand, ready to pile in as required. I was a bit concerned it all might end in tears when Hajduk went 1 - 0 up. It didn't. In the 2nd half, we wnadered down to the back of the unofficial
Hajduk section.
The occasion was nothing like the Red Star - Partizan game in Serbia a few weeks before. There were no real flags or banners. A few scarfs were raised at certain point by Dinamo and some flares were periodically let off. The North Stand - traditional home of the Bad Blue Boys - was practically empty and the "official" Hajduk group on the South numbered no more than 200. The match ended 2 -2, with a definite off side equaliser for Hajduk in the closing stages. Once again, it wa all love and happiness between the two groups of ultras. The linesman had clearly got in the spirit.
We made a swift exit at the end. The newspapers indicated that there were plenty of disputes between Dinamo and the Police, but the pact stayed firm with Hajduk. We walked speedily in search of a handball game at Dubrava. After struggling to locate the sports hall, we asked a policeman! He was busy hiding from the cold (or perhaps more onerous duties down the road near the Maksimir) in a bookies and took the time to come out to show us the direction. As they say, if
in doubt "ask a policeman"!
Appendix 1 GNK Dinamo 2 Hajduk Split 2 Stadium: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Croatia 1 HNLiga Sunday 1 December 2013 1500 Hrs Scorers: J Kouassi (Hajduk) 11, E Soudani (Dinamo) 27, D Cop (Dinamo) 54, A Maglica (Hajduk) 90 + 1
Attendance: 10000
Referee: D Ljubicic
GNK Dinamo: O Zelinka, E Soudani, J Siminuc, A Ademi, J Fernandes, D Antolic, L Addy, Ruben Lima, J Leko, M Brozovic, D Cop
Hajduk: L Kalinic, G Milovic, A Vrsjajevic, M Palasic, G Iluridze, G Jozinovic, M Maloca, Z Nizic, F Bradaric, T Susic, J Kouassi
Appendix 2 RK Dubrava Zagreb 30 RK Buzet 27 Stadium: Sport Hala, Dubrava, Zagreb
Croatia Premijer Liga Sunday 1 December 2013 1800 Hrs Attendance: 250
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