WARSAW, Poland — UEFA President Michel Platini is unhappy that some Croatia fans have tarnished a European Championship he described as "99 percent great."
Platini told reporters on
Monday that he is delighted with co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, who “have
already won the Euro” by defying doubters to organize a successful
tournament.
However, he added: “I am not happy with the Croatian people.”
“Except
for the Croatians it was clean. I think it is a good victory,” Platini
said a day before the 16-team group stage ends amid widespread praise
for the high quality of matches and refereeing.
UEFA has charged
Croatia’s football association after fans made monkey noises at Italy’s
Mario Balotelli. Croatian fans also caused delays at both their team’s
matches by throwing flares onto the pitch.
Platini said only “10
stupid people” were responsible for fighting on the streets of Warsaw
when Poland played Russia, in the tournament’s highest risk match.
As
for the football, Platini said the Netherlands’ early exit on Sunday
showed that Euro 2012 is “more difficult than the World Cup.” He also
predicted a final between Spain and Germany on July 1 in Kiev.
Platini
showed his frustration with Croatia, having previously urged its
political and football leaders to deal with a hooligan problem.
“I went one year ago in Croatia to speak with the president and the prime minister,” Platini said.
In
February 2011, Platini warned state president Ivo Josipovic that UEFA
could suspend national and club teams from European competitions.
Croatia should prosecute offenders swiftly, ban them traveling abroad to
matches and improve international police cooperation, Platini suggested
at the time.
Platini agreed Monday that similar measures taken in
England a decade ago had helped control violence at matches abroad.
Still, Platini said he was “delighted” overall with the atmosphere at
Euro 2012.
“All the emotions in the stadium have been 99 percent
great,” Platini said. “The people who come to the stadiums, they were
nice, except some Croatians.
“We can do better, but better is perfection. It is very, very difficult to do better in this tournament than what we have done.”
Platini heaped praise on the co-host nations, after “five long, long years” of often troubled preparations.
“Poland
has already won the Euro. Ukraine has already won the Euro,” he said,
though the Poles were eliminated Saturday and Ukraine must beat England
on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals.
“The challenge was very tough. At the end they did it well,” Platini said.
The
UEFA president insisted that both countries were grateful for the
effort and money invested in Euro 2012. Billions of taxpayers’ money was
spent on stadiums, airports, roads, hotels and communications
technology to support the three-week event.
“The people who love
football thank us. The people who don’t love football thank us for the
legacies we are leaving for the future,” he said.
