Celtic played out a goalless draw against Dinamo Zagreb in last night’s Champions League fixture in a game that passed by without any real on-pitch incidents.
Both teams settled for a draw and whilst Brendan Rodgers will be happy to head back to Glasgow without a defeat, there was disappointment amongst Celtic fans that a game that was there to be won, wasn’t.
However, whilst Champions League results are important, they do not take precedence over fan safety and unfortunately, some Celtic fans were assaulted prior to the Dinamo Zagreb draw.
We told yesterday how Celtic had released a statement over the safety of the fans travelling to Zagreb and how the local police had to take measures to keep the Parkhead support safe.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as it appears two Celtic fans were left with serious wounds after an attack in the Croatian capital.
Celtic fan stabbed prior to Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb
A report was sent to the Municipal Criminal State Attorney’s Office for Juveniles where it was identified that one Celtic fan was ‘threatened with death’ whilst another was stabbed.
The statement read, “Officers of the Zagreb Police Department conducted a criminal investigation against six juveniles on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of attempted robbery and grievous bodily injury to the detriment of a 38-year-old British citizen together with several unknown persons.
“The conducted criminal investigation suspects that on December 8, 2024, at around 10:45 p.m. in Zagreb, in Opatovina Street, the suspects approached the injured party, who was not far from the catering facility from which he had exited, and demanded that he hand over his mobile phone and money. When he refused, one of the suspects threatened him with death, after which the injured party began to run towards the catering facility.
“The suspects ran after him and when they caught up with him, they physically attacked him by hitting him with his legs and hands on the body and, with an unknown sharp object, injured him in the area of the fist, after which they began to run away and in order not to be noticed, they divided into two groups.
“This did not escape the attention of the Zagreb police, and one group was spotted a few minutes later near Toma Bakača Street, and the other soon after on the stretch of Josip Juraj Strossmayer Square and Petar Preradovic Square.
“Medical assistance was provided to the injured person at the Traumatology Clinic of the Sisters of Mercy Clinical Hospital Center, where it was determined that he was seriously injured.”
Three juveniles arrested over Celtic fan attack in Zagreb
“Furthermore,” the statement continued, “It was established that there is a suspicion that three suspected juveniles from that group with several unknown persons committed the criminal offence of violent behaviour to the detriment of a citizen of Great Britain aged 19.
“It is suspected that the suspects, on the same day at around 10:10 p.m. in Zagreb in Gajeva Street, ran up to the injured person, while he was walking down the street in the company of friends, and without any reason began to hit him with their hands in the area of the head, as a result of which he fell to the ground where the suspects continued to kick him on the body. After that, they ran away.
09.12.2024, Dinamo Zagreb🇭🇷 – Celtic🏴, Groups of Celtic fans in Zagreb city centre when they were attacked by a Dinamo Zagreb (Youth) group, at all times the guests are under police protection to avoid the next conflicts, click here for more: https://t.co/Jxu2xNucbi pic.twitter.com/SC3esnw048
— Hooligans.cz Official (@hooliganscz1999) December 10, 2024
“With the described behaviour, i.e. violence in a public place, the suspects put the injured party in a humiliating position and slightly injured him.
“Upon completion of the criminal investigation, the suspects were handed over to the detention supervisor within the legal deadline, while a special report was submitted to the Municipal Criminal State Attorney’s Office for Juveniles in Zagreb.”
It’s a disgrace that in this day and age fans can’t travel to football without threat of violence or in the case of these two unfortunate Celtic fans, threats of death.
Hopefully, the authorities will come down hard on Dinamo Zagreb for this but the likelihood is that UEFA will be more concerned with the pyro that was used inside the stadium rather than the safety of Celtic fans outside it.