Ognjen Vukojevic, staff member of Croatia, sacks the message "Glory to Ukraine"

ZAGREB – The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) expelled Ognjen Vukojevic, a member of the World Cup delegation from the national team, after Croatia's victory over Russia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup

Vukojevic and Croatian defender Domagoj Vida released the video on social media after the match on Saturday, which was criticized by Russian politicians and led to a warning from the Discipline Committee of the FIFA. the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its support for a pro-Russian uprising in the east of the country

HNS said it revoked Vukojevic's accreditation at the World Cup and to have relieved him of his duties as an observer for the Croatian team.

"HNS apologizes to the Russian public for the actions of a member of the Croatian delegation," he says.

HNS stated that Vukojevic and Vida apologized They said that they were not meant to be political messages but that they unfortunately left room for such interpretations.

The video shows Vida, who scored against Russia, shouting "glory to Ukraine" before Vukojevic L … Ukraine … goes to Croatia. "Both Vida and Vukojevic have already played for Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev, and Vukojevic is now a scout.

" I do not want to be a burden to our team before the extremely important semi-final match of the FIFA World Cup world, "Vukojevic told the Hungarian public television channel HRT that he wanted the video to be a personal tribute to Ukrainian friends, not a political statement." However, I understand that my statements may be interpreted differently, "he said. For this reason, I am sorry – and I apologize to the Russian public, they perceived my statements like this. I am very proud of Croatia's success at the World Cup and I wish the best of luck to the boys in the following games.

FIFA then awarded Vukojevic, a former Spartak Moscow player, a $ 15,000 fine. a warning for unsporting behavior

Questions on the subject were not allowed when Croatian players Mario Mandzukic and Andrej Kramaric spoke at a press conference in Moscow on Monday

" We have been very clear about this. "The position of the federation and we do not need to ask the players," said a spokesman for the Croatian team.

Croatia will face England to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Moscow on Wednesday

was used in this report.