Events for February
M T W T F S S
30 31 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 1 2 3 4
Add your event FREE

Today

Videos

Polls

  • Are you considering buying a property in Croatia, now the country is joining the EU?

  • show result

    all polls

© Christopher Bruno / Wikimedia

02. 03. 10. - 16:00

02. 03. 10. - 16:00

Roma in Croatia play football against racism and discrimination

Croatian Times

Roma have played a football match against Zagreb city officials under the slogan "with a ball against discrimination, racism and poverty."

Members of the Roma community had approached city officials about a match that took place on February 27th. Zagreb City Assembly President Boris Sprem said that authorities had taken the match as an opportunity to highlight difficulties that continued to plague the Roma community in Croatia, such as problems in education, employment and housing.

"It is necessary that all those problems be resolved so that Roma can become better integrated," he told Croatian daily Vecernji List.

Although it was a friendly match and the result didn’t matter, the Roma won by a score of 8-7 in the presence of 100 fans. The match offered a much-needed opportunity for interaction, one of the visitors, Friar Žarko Relota, commented.

Nura Ismailovska, a City Assembly representative who is also a member of the Roma ethnic minority, said that the event's slogan depicts the everyday problems her community faces. "Today, we are showing the public that Roma are not second-class people and that they should be treated as equals. Our differences should bring us closer together, not divide us," she said.

Although there haven't been any concrete steps towards integration, Zagreb’s city government should address the problems of housing, education and employment that are prevalent in Roma communities by 2015.

Roma football coach Toti Dedic, who is also president of World Roma Organization, said that the most important thing was to get members of the ethnic minority out of the ghetto so they could live normal lives and not sell drugs or beg on the street.

His calls for financial support of the European Roma Sport Congress that will take place on 29 and 30 March in Zagreb haven’t been answered.

Your comment to this article :

(will be approved by an editor before going online)

  • Not for publication:
  • How many vertical lines or which Text (from left to right) do you see in this image:

Tag cloud ethnic  housing  interaction  government  Assembly  haven  Zagreb  depicts  football  Roma  minority  education  discrimination  slogan  President  community  problems  concrete  racism  Croatia

Trainee Journalist

Latest News

 

Austrian holidaymakers are patriots, poll shows
More than one in four Austrians who plan to go on holiday this year will do so in their home country, according to a new poll.

Former Tennis star Iva Majoli no longer living with husband
Former Croatian tennis star Iva Majoli and her husband Stipe Maric have parted ways.

Half of working age population unemployed in Croatia
Only every second able-bodied citizen is working in Croatia. The labour force unemployment rate in Croatia is amongst the highest in Europe.

Croatian software company opens London branch
Three young entrepreneurs from Croatian capital Zagreb are about to take London by storm. Antun Debak, Darko Cengija and Vibor Cipan all in their mid 20s, are the names behind local software company UX Passion, who have just opened a branch in the British capital.

Hackers crash President Josipovic's website
Local members of the hacker group Anonymous, briefly shut down the official website of the Office of the President of Croatia last night (Thurs), writes tportal.

Heroic Brac man takes pregnant woman to Split on speed boat in hurricane winds
With ferries not operating and helicopters not able to fly due to the extreme weather, it was the heroics of a local man on the Dalmatian island of Brac to help get pregnant, Ruzica Mikacic to the hospital on the mainland in Split in time to deliver her baby.

Snow forces postponement of Croatian football league matches
The current snow storms and low temperatures that are gripping the country have forced the postponement of around 18 matches of Croatian football's 1st division.

Croatia knocked out in semi-final of Euro Futsal Championship
The Croatian national futsal team lost 4-2 to Russia in the semi-final of the 2012 UEFA Futsal Championship in front of 12,000 fans in the Arena in Zagreb last night (Thur).

Some Croatian Embassies may close
Although the budget for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFEA) should remain the same, Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic has indicated that the closure of some Croatian diplomatic missions was something that was being discussed, reports HRT.

Chocolate Festival begins in Zagreb
Chocofest Zagreb, the first regional festival of chocolate started on the main square in the Croatian capital Zagreb today (Fri).

 

The most popular stories –
last 7 days

Friends and Partners