Euro 2016: Croatia coach calls fans 'sports terrorists' after crowd trouble

Croatia head coach Ante Cacic has called his country's supporters who threw flares on to the pitch in their European Championship clash against Czech Republic as 'sports terrorists'.

The match, which ended 2-2, was halted in the 86th minute when flares from the Croatia end rained down on the Saint-Etienne pitch.

European football's governing body (UEFA) has confirmed it will investigate the incident.

"They are not really Croatia supporters. These people are scary and I call them hooligans," Cacic was quoted as saying by the BBC on Friday.

Croatia have already been charged by UEFA after crowd trouble in their opening Group D game against Turkey.

The UEFA said disciplinary proceedings would be opened on Saturday once they had received the official reports about the trouble from the match delegate and English referee Mark Clattenburg.

Cacic also hopes the Croatian FA will take action, adding, "The 95 percent of Croatian supporters are ashamed in front of Europe."

"These are sports terrorists. This is maybe just a question about six to 10 individuals. I hope they can be identified and punished. I hope the Croatia FA is doing everything to prevent this, but it is impossible to avoid," the head coach said.

UEFA is also expected to open disciplinary proceedings against the Turkish FA after some of the country's fans set off flares at the end of their 3-0 defeat by Spain on Friday night.

-IANS

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