The actions of the "sports terrorists" against the Czech Republic were the result of a long-running feud with one of the most controversial figures in world football
PROFILE
There were only four minutes of the match remaining when Croatia fans launched their first flare onto the field. Another soon followed, then another and another, leaving the corner of the pitch closest to their supporters dusted by the glowing pyrotechnics. A firecracker went off right next to a member of security personnel tasked with clearing up their mess. It was chaos.
Chaos, though, is exactly what a band of supporters wished to cause in what is a long-running civil war with Zdravko Mamic, the vice president of the country’s football association but reckoned to be the most influential individual in Croatian sport.