Football in Croatia

FIFA on Monday fined Croatian national team assistant coach Ognjen Vukojevic for participating in a video posted on social media declaring support for Ukraine, which has sparked angry reactions from Russian politicians.

World football's governing body, which forbids any political statements, fined Vukojevic 15,000 Swiss francs (12,880 euros) for his involvement.

The Croatian national team received a very unpleasant news before the extremely important semi-final clash of the World Cup with England on Wednesday at 21:00.

Croatia's national football team has gone through to the World Cup quarter-finals after beating Denmark 3-2 in a penalty shootout in Nizhny Novgorod.

After the adrenalin-filled drama on the football pitch on Sunday, the whole country went into delirium.

Former Croatian football club boss Zdravko Mamic, who has been convicted of financial crimes, was arrested on Thursday in Medjugorje.

State Investigation and Protection Agency police detained Mamic on the basis of an Interpol warrant. He will be handed over to the Bosnian state court.

Zdravko Mamic, the former chief of Dinamo Zagreb, his brother Zoran Mamic, Damir Vrbanovic, a former Dinamo director, and tax official Milan Pernar were convicted on Wednesday of siphoning about 116 million kunas (15.5 million euros) out of the football club and defrauding the state of about 12.milion kuna (1.8 euro) in unpaid taxes.

Having billed Greece as the most awkward opponents it could draw in the World Cup play-offs, Croatia will head into the two-leg tie confident of maintaining its flawless record in the final round of qualifying for major tournaments.

Eight-year-old Tino Popovic from Rijeka in Croatia, who became an internet sensation after he rejected Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's suggestion that he should start supporting a Belgrade club, has been given a team shirt signed by all the HNK Rijeka players, media reported on Tuesday.

There were clashes between Bulgarian and Croatian fans in the city of Zadar in the evening before the first match of the second preliminary round in the Europa League tournament between the local Hajduk Split and the Bulgarian Levski Sofia.

Croatian former justice minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt said on Tuesday that the investigation into Real Madrid football star Luka Modric, suspected of giving false testimony in court about alleged financial kickbacks in his 2008 transfer from Dinamo Zagreb, should be a warning to people considering committing perjury.