The government on Friday approved amendments to the law preventing sports violence which stipulate harsher penalties against sports fans prone to hooliganism.
These measures are for the true fans and citizens, and against rampage, said Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.
The stricter law is the result of numerous incidents at sporting events, notably at soccer stadiums, which culminated at a 1 May 2010 Dinamo-Hajduk game, when one police officer lost an eye, it was said.
That officer is now a permanent invalid only because he was doing his job, he was at a stadium protecting fans, said Kosor.
Commenting on Sports Minister Radovan Fuchs's assessment that the stricter measures would make some sports fans complain that their rights were being restricted, Kosor said this was a law for the protection of fans, and not against them.
Those who attend games to cause riots "love nothing and no one" and with these amendments the government wants "to do its utmost to prevent rampaging for our own sake" and to raise the responsibility of organisers of sporting events, said Kosor.
The new measures prohibit fans from wearing masks and being intoxicated as well as the sale of alcohol at sports facilities. The amendments also introduce four new criminal acts - involvement in a fight or attacks on spectators; organising violence at sporting events; destruction of property; and failure to comply with measures and bans.
The amendments also provide for punishing hooligans who cause violence abroad.
