Simunic banned for 10 games for pro-Nazi chant

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: AP

FIFA has banned Croatia defender Josip Simunic for 10 games — including the entire World Cup — for leading fans in a pro-Nazi chant after the team qualified for the tournament in Brazil.

Simunic invoked a World War II-era slogan used by Croatia's then-puppet regime following a 2-0 playoff victory against Iceland last month.

"After taking into account all of the circumstances of the case, and particularly given the gravity of the incident, the committee decided to suspend the player for 10 official matches," FIFA said in a statement.

The incident is the latest to discredit football in Croatia, after UEFA President Michel Platini described its fans as the worst behaved at the 2012 European Championship.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Simunic-banned-for-10-games-for-pro-Nazi-chant-5068643.php

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[sharp_stick]

1. This guy is a real piece of shit

He's one of the dirtiest players in the game and should be banned for good IMO. He should have been banned for the hit he put on a Serbian player earlier this year.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Im surprised he hasn't been kicked out and that his coaches minimize it...nt

[Kelvin Mace]

16. I see it in American sports all the time.

[Android3.14]

20. Suuuuure you do.

All the time.

[Kelvin Mace]

22. Yes, I do

Sports "stars" in high school, college and the NFL are frequently in the paper for rape, murder, assault, DUI and then some. They then walk because the U.S. WORSHIPS these testosterone intoxicated assholes.

Do I really have to point out ALL the examples of this?

[Android3.14]

23. Suuure you change the topic

The topic was the soccer player leading pro-Nazi chants. I don't recall anyone on this thread talking about rape, murder, assault, and DUI.
Those pro-Nazi chants happen all the time in American sports...NOT.

I'm with you on the creepy over emphasis of sports in our culture, because we could use the money in better ways. I'm also horrified by the incident related in the OP. But I also dislike it when people make shit up to justify their own bias. Progressives should be better than that.

"The NFL counters that the average arrest rate for its 3,000 or so players is 2 percent compared with three percent to 4 percent for the general population—and much lower than the 10 percent rate for the equivalent population of men ages 20 to 34."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100942614/page/2

"The arrest rate for NFL players has averaged about 2.9 percent over the last decade, roughly a fourth the 10.8 percent arrest rate for males between the ages of 22 and 34 over the same period, according to economist Stephen Bronars."
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2013/06/27/2228241/nfl-complicated-crime-problem/

[Kelvin Mace]

24. The text of the article

of the article, which I read in its entirety, is that the coach and player are "bitter" that he is being punished severely for what they see as a trivial issue, but everyone else sees as abominable. I failed to make this point in my post, an error on my part.

This sense of entitlement, however, is pervasive in U.S. sports.

That said, I am not one to "make shit up" to "justify" my own "bias".

First, arrest rates are not the issue, CONVICTION rates are. How many sports stars pull serious jail time for crimes versus non-sports "heroes"? A lot of people are arrested for murder, few get to walk away despite obvious guilt.

Ask O.J..

Oh, and for something comparable, how about we discuss the NFL racism problems? How about we discuss the Atlanta Braves and their "tomahawk chop". How about the "Redskins"? How about the prevalence of athletes getting free passes on rape? How about he persecution of rape victims when the accused rapists are sports stars?

http://gawker.com/the-non-sports-fans-guide-to-the-nfls-racist-bullying-1462385376

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Sports/2013/1106/Does-NFL-bullying-run-deeper-than-racist-taunts-by-Dolphins-Richie-Incognito-video

http://jezebel.com/5964359/when-will-we-stop-pretending-that-college-athletes-cant-be-rapists

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/10/07/impunity-for-college-athletes-who-rape/

http://www.thewire.com/national/2013/10/family-driven-maryville-missouri-home-after-teen-sex-scandal/70489/

[Android3.14]

26. Dancing around the topic, I see

Actually, arrest rates are the issue. You wrote about how athletes are in the news "all the time" for breaking the law, implying that athletes engage in illegal behavior more than others. Arrest rates would be the first indicator of a higher prevalence of illegal behavior, bit the data does not support that. Low convictions would be the indicator of entitlement, on which research seems to support.
"Arrest and conviction rates, for male collegiate and professional athletes accused of felony sexual assault against women are compared with national crime data to determine whether elite athletes receive preferential treatment by the criminal justice system. The research is based on 217 criminal complaints against athletes filed with police between 1986 and 1995. The findings indicate that allegations of sexual assault involving collegiate or professional athletes are far more likely to result in an arrest and in an indictment. Nonetheless, athletes are significantly less likely to be convicted." from here...
http://journals.humankinetics.com/ssj-back-issues/ssjvolume14issue1march/researchnotesarrestandconvictionratesforathletesaccusedofsexualassault
It looks to me that athletes behave themselves better than the rest of the population, but that the entitlement issue shows up in the courts.
As far as athletes leading crowds in racist/fascist chants, it "happens all the time" seems inaccurate.

[Kelvin Mace]

27. The Journal of Human Kinetics?

Seriously? You go to a glorified phys-ed publication for objective data about athlete criminal behavior.

Yeah, the "Official Journal of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sports" is my go to source for unbiased information about America's worship of sports.

[Android3.14]

28. If you have something better than peer review, please add to the discussion

Apparently, for some folks, unbiased means it just supports their own preconceived notions.
Good day.
http://journals.humankinetics.com/ssj-editorial-board-staff

[Kelvin Mace]

29. Peer reviewed by other phys-ed teachers

who have no reason to make themselves look good.

Being a coach with a degree in "human kinetics" is like being a garbage man with a degree in "sanitation engineering".

[sakabatou]

5. Looked like he was trying to take his head off

[catbyte]

2. Only 10 games? After what the Nazis did to Yugoslavians during WWII? WOW.

What a fucking idiot.

[iandhr]

10. Agreed

But for a international soccer player to be banned for the entire world cup is a big deal.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!"

The slogan became popular after the death of Croatian Partisan Stjepan Filipović. As the rope was put around his neck on 22 May 1942, Filipović defiantly thrust his hands out and denounced the Germans and their Axis allies as murderers, shouting "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!". At this moment, a subsequently-famous photograph was taken from which a statue was cast.

[MynameisBlarney]

4. I cannot undertand the logic

Of all the neo-snotzis in countries populated by peoples the original nazi's would have happily slaughtered if they'd not been destroyed.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. Croatia was allied with the Nazi's...

The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II. The pact was signed by representatives of Nazi Germany (Adolf Hitler), Fascist Italy (foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano), and Imperial Japan (Japanese ambassador to Germany Saburō Kurusu).

The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH) signed the Tripartite Pact on June 15, 1941.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_Pact

[MynameisBlarney]

14. Yes, but treaties and non-aggression pacts

didn't mean a hell of a lot to the nazi's.

[sharp_stick]

21. No but the Croats

and their political leaders the Ustasa were right into the Nazi ideology. The Nazi's didn't have to break any treaties with that group.

[Jesus Malverde]

25. This should be well known, Croatia allied with NATO in the Yugoslav civil war.

Was a magnet for rightwing mercenaries who went to fight in international brigades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Bosnian_War

Safe to say many of those fighters are members of the modern national socialist milieu.

[iandhr]

6. " I'm sure he did not want to offend anyone."

To steal a line from Airplane! "Surely you can't be serious?"

[billh58]

11. Don't call him

Shirley.

[rdharma]

8. Bob Dylan was sued for pointing out the neo-nazi movement in Croatia.

I guess Bob Dylan was correct.

[Jesus Malverde]

9. Great catch!~..nt

[rdharma]

13. "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"

Subterranean Homesick Blues

[seveneyes]

15. A stronger message than 10 days is needed to fight this insanity

Take the whole team out of the games. That should prevent any future acts of hate like this.

[fbc]

17. They should just drop Croatia from the World Cup completely

They are appealing the decision... a clear sign they support their player and disagree with the ruling.

[MsPithy]

18. Fans participated in the chant,

they are lucky the whole team was not disqualified from international competitions.

The Greek national team banned a player for life for just doing a nazi salute.

[Jesus Malverde]

19. They should be...

There seems to be a difference between good natured and destructive nationalism. People need to learn what's appropriate.