After hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons two years prior, Croatia defender Josip Simunic has been handed the assistant manager job with the national side.
Simunic was in Croatia’s playing squad for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers when, having beaten Iceland in the final playoff fixture, was seen leading fans in chants which were found to have associations with Croatia’s former pro-Nazi Ustase regime.
The former Dynamo Zagreb and Hertha player received a 10 match ban and a £20,700 fine for the incident, punishment that was upheld after he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Simunic will assist new national team coach Ante Cacic. When asked to comment on the Croatian FA’s decision, federation president Davor Suker simply commented “we rely on Croatian brains.”….quite.
The news comes just months after the national side were deducted one point from their Euro 2016 qualification group after a swastika was visible on the grass prior to a fixture against Italy.
There be a footballing body that doesn’t give two hoots about good public relations.