Italy and Croatia drew their Euro qualifier 1- 1 but not before Referee Bjorn Kuipers had to stop the game twice because of Croatian fans throwing flares on to the pitch.
16 Croatia supporters got arrested and a UEFA enquiry will follow.
The Croatia coach, Niko Kovac, said: “It’s not the first time and it’s not accidental. I hope the bodies in charge will find a way to solve the problem because it paints a bad picture of Croatia. I was ashamed and I apologised to the Italians after the game. There were families with children up there.”
The former Croatia forward Goran Vlaovic suggested it might have been a protest against the Croatian football federation.
He said: “If this is aimed against the Croatian football federation, it’s not the best way to express discontent because at the end of the day football and the national team suffers.”