Hajduk Split Chants Draw Police Probe After Nazi References

Police are investigating after footage emerged of Hajduk Split supporters chanting outside the stadium before the club's Conference League match against Ajax. The recording captures fans invoking Auschwitz and Adolf Hitler. Given that Auschwitz was the Nazi death camp where more than a million people were murdered, references like these carry an unmistakable antisemitic meaning, whatever the intent behind them.

The choice of target makes the chants harder to dismiss as mere provocation. Ajax has a well-known historical association with Amsterdam's Jewish community, and its supporters have long been the target of antisemitic taunts from rival fans across Europe. Songs that reference the Holocaust and are aimed at that fanbase are the kind of behavior European football's governing bodies have repeatedly said they will not tolerate.

That is also why the matter may not stay within Croatia. European competitions are governed by UEFA's disciplinary rules, which cover discriminatory conduct by supporters. Sanctions for such behavior commonly include fines and, in serious cases, closure of sections of a stadium, and the responsibility can fall on the club as well as on the individuals involved.

Several basic questions remain open. The material available so far does not say how many people took part, whether anyone has been identified or arrested, or how Hajduk Split has responded. Police have not been quoted in the reporting beyond confirming that an investigation is underway. Until those answers come out, the footage itself is the clearest record of what happened, and the investigation will determine what, if anything, follows from it.