A new twist in Croatian media relations with the Croatian Football Federation.
In an unprecedented move, Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has announced that it will prohibit journalists from Index.hr to attend the matches and enter the premises of the Federation, and has called on the players not to cooperate with Index. The decisions have been announced in an anonymous letter published on the HNS official website, reports Index.hr on September 25, 2015.
Such a move by Mamić, Šuker and people who call themselves “Croatian Football Federation” came after Index endorsed the boycott against Mamić’s HNS with the slogan: WITH CROATIA ALWAYS, WITH MAMIĆ NEVER, and supported the call for the players to speak out against the tyranny of the man who brought a once powerful team to the brink of collapse.
Following information that some players are thinking about supporting the fans and showing the open resistance to Mamić, HNS has reacted in panic. It has published a private photo of the editor of Index Sport Dea Redžić in Hajduk’s jersey.
The open letter titled “To Dea Redžić, Ivan Gojčeta, Zvonko Alač, Armin Hasanbegović, Dario Dalmacija, Saša Čobanov and Others…” explains that Index journalists are “banned from coming to the matches of Croatian national team, press conferences, as well as all other activities of the Federation, and all their inquiries and calls will remain unanswered”. “We invite every member of the Croatian national football family, players, clubs and all others not to cooperate with the news portal which aims to poison everything in and around the Croatian football”, states the unprecedented letter.
HNS has sent a clear message that it will cooperate only with the media which do not call into question Mamić and Šuker’s work. The message sent to the players states: if you communicate with Index.hr, there will be no place for you in the national team.
Index has contacted the legal experts, as well as national and international institutions, and has decided to continue supporting the boycott of HNS, until the dismissal or arrest of Zdravko Mamić and Davor Šuker.
Judging from the comments posted below the HNS post on its Facebook page, the termination of cooperation with Index.hr does not have much of a support. The reason is simple – the fans have realized that the leadership of the Croatian football are making a laugh of the national team. Top comments are describing what the fans really think of HNS.
“Dear HNS! With so many hilarious idiocies that have been written in your letter addressed to the media, you do not deserve to get a response. But, nevertheless, here it goes: the people who are disgusted with Mamić, Šuker and their new toy Čačić are now in the majority! MAJORITY! Football used to unite us all and awaken our national pride. You have managed to destroy it. Therefore, I am proud to announce the boycott of watching the Croatian football team, which you have managed to turn into a private toy”, says a fan of the Croatian national team Igor Martinčić.
“You are being boycotted by the whole country, and not just Index. If you were wise, you would resign from your positions”, says Bože Poljak. Denis Komljenović says: “You are the ones who have poisoned the relations, and not Index.hr”.
HNS’s public relations machine published a private photo of Dea Redžić in Hajduk’s jersey. It is an interesting selection for a “controversial” image, since the author of the open letter apparently believes that the editor of the sports section of Index.hr should not wear a jersey of a Croatian club. “I doubt that the photo has been selected by random choice”, wrote one fan. It is this behavior of HNS which has forced the fans to stand in defense of their national team, because Croatia are Hajduk and Dinamo and Osijek and Rijeka and all other Croatian clubs and cities.
