Croatian leaders condemn antisemitic chants before Ajax match as three arrested

Croatian police said on 16 October that they had arrested three people on suspicion of publicly inciting violence and hatred over chants during a Hajduk Split supporters’ march before the previous day’s Conference League match against Ajax. President Zoran Milanović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković both condemned the reported antisemitic and pro-Nazi slogans. [2] [1] [4]

The local newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija reported chants about crushing Jews, Auschwitz and Adolf Hitler during the procession by Torcida, Hajduk’s supporters’ group. Police confirmed recording chants with potentially criminal content, but did not specify the words or identify individual chanters in their statement. The allegations concern participants in the march, not Hajduk supporters as a whole. [3] [2]

Milanović called the behaviour of *some* Torcida supporters “unacceptable, shameful and deserving of condemnation” — translated from Croatian. He urged police, prosecutors and courts to act, saying words of condemnation were no longer enough. [1]

Plenković said the messages could only be understood as antisemitic and were at odds with the values he wanted Croatian society to uphold. He expected police to identify those who shouted them and file complaints, and the courts to respond, HRT reported. Israel’s embassy in Zagreb said it was “deeply shocked by the serious antisemitic incident”, in a statement translated from Croatian. [4] [7]

Hajduk, which beat Ajax 2–1, apologised to Ajax, the competition organiser and supporters over scenes during the match, which was interrupted by flares. Its statement, reproduced by 24sata, did not mention the earlier street chants. Hajduk supervisory board chairman Ljubo Pavasović Visković later told Dnevnik Nove TV that the club’s apology concerned the match; he described what happened outside the stadium as unacceptable. Police said they were continuing to identify people from footage of the march. [8] [9] [2]