French police arrested seven people for making Nazi salutes during the Nations League match between France and Croatia at the Stade de France on Sunday, March 23, the Paris police chief said. A police source said around 10 Croatian supporters had made Nazi salutes during the playing of their national anthem before the match and several did so during the first half of the game that saw France edge out Croatia in a penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 aggregate draw.
“The security measures implemented by the police headquarters, under my authority, ensured the safety of fans and players and led to the arrest of seven individuals who made Nazi salutes during the match,” Laurent Nuñez wrote on X on Monday. “Sport is and must remain a celebration. These individuals have no place in a sports venue,” he added.
French police confiscated “iron bars, telescopic batons, sharp wooden sticks and smoke bombs” from some of the 400 Croatian fans who attended the game, a police source said.
Croatia’s ultra-nationalist hardcore supporters have tainted the national team’s image for years, notably by chanting pro-fascist slogans and displaying symbols of the country’s pro-Nazi Ustasha regime that killed and persecuted hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians.
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