The Croatia Football Federation has been fined £15,000 by Fifa after their fans dealt out racist abuse during the World Cup qualifier against England earlier this month.
Wigan striker Emile Heskey was on the end of monkey chants from fans at the Maksimir Stadium after being cautioned for a foul on Croatia captain Niko Kovac.
Fifa conducted an investigation after the FA made an official complaint in the aftermath of the 4-1 victory and delivered its verdict yesterday (September 26th).
A statement from world football's governing body read: "Racism has no place in football. Fifa is determined to continue broadcasting this message around the globe and deploying all of the means at its disposal to eliminate this form of discrimination."
Croatia fans were embroiled in similar controversy during the recent Euro 2008 tournament after racially abusing Turkey players, for which they were handed a small fine.
Heskey was also racially abused while on England duty in Slovakia in 2002 and Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips were subjected to monkey chants during a friendly with Spain in Madrid in 2004.
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21 October 2010
21 October 2010
21 October 2010
20 October 2010
20 October 2010
