They claim to have lost faith in the Croatian Football Federation and have accused it of widespread corruption. The federation’s vice-president, Zdravko Mamic, has been charged with embezzling money from Dinamo Zagreb when he was chief executive there. Damir Vrbanovic, the federation’s executive director, has also been charged as an accomplice in the same case.

Last year, they were taken into custody (Mamic twice, as the investigation extended) amid fears that someone was trying to influence witnesses. Finally, Mamic was suspended from working at Dinamo by the authorities but both men kept their job at the federation and were both in the VIP lounge at the game against the Czechs.

Many fans in Croatia feel the national team has been hijacked by the pair – as well as Davor Suker, the CFF president who is seen by many as their puppet – and turned it into a tool for making money. Mamic and Vrbanovic deny this but there has been a long – and at the moment unsuccessful – campaign to have them removed via the legal system.