The reception for the Croatian handball players following their bronze medal at the European Championship, which was planned for today at 3 p.m. in Zagreb, has been canceled due to the players’ insistence that singer Marko Perković Thompson, known for glorifying Ustaštvo, perform at the event—something the city authorities did not accept.
Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević stated in a post on his Facebook profile that Thompson’s performance was not permitted because it would be contrary to the decisions of the city administration and the City Assembly regarding the use of the Ustaše salute, which Thompson has already violated in the past.
Earlier, Croatian media reported that the country’s handball players, after winning the bronze medal at the European Championship, invited Thompson to sing at their reception even at the cost of the event being canceled.
According to media reports, the national team players contacted Thompson from the locker room after the match for third place.
Previously, as the media state, they celebrated winning the medal on the court to his song “Ako ne znaš šta je bilo.”
Numerous mayors from the ruling HDZ party invited the handball players to receptions in their towns, including Vukovar, Split, and Zadar.
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The Croatian national handball team caused a scandal in mid-January at the opening match of the European Championship in the Swedish city of Malmö, when—at their request—one of Thompson’s songs was played over the loudspeakers. Thompson has been banned in several European countries due to promoting neo-Nazism and Ustaštvo.
At the time, the European Handball Federation (EHF) said that the Croatian national team had requested the organizer to play Thompson’s song and added that they were “doing everything to ensure this does not happen again.”
Thompson’s concerts have in recent years been banned or canceled, among other places, in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Slovenia—countries in which the performer is described as a promoter of neo-Nazism and Ustaštvo.
In January, at concerts in Split, Thompson once again shouted “Za dom spremni” together with attendees, and the most controversial song, “Bojna Čavoglave,” which begins with this Ustaše chant, was again on the repertoire.
After a massive concert last summer at Zagreb’s Hippodrome, when the Croatian capital was for three days turned into a “capital of Ustaštvo,” Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević banned the holding of a second Thompson concert at the Arena, and the City Assembly decided to ban Ustaše symbols and chants at all venues under the city’s jurisdiction.
The authorities in Croatia tacitly allow Thompson’s promotion of Ustaštvo, and ahead of his performance last year in Zagreb, he was visited at a general rehearsal by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković himself, together with his children.
On the day of the concert, the front rows were occupied by Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković and ministers from the Government, who confirmed that they responded to Thompson’s chants of “za dom,” which drew condemnation from part of the Croatian public.
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Source: RTS; Foto: Printscreen X / SportKlub