Croatia chief confident of bid success

Croatian soccer chief Vlatko Markovic said yesterday he was convinced a joint bid by Croatia and Hungary to stage Euro 2012 had a strong chance of success despite recent troubles involving Croat fans.

"Following my recent contacts with our European partners, I can say that we have considerable chances to stage the European Championship in 2012," the Croatian FA president told reporters.

He said a recent meeting with UEFA president Lennart Johansson in Budapest only boosted his hopes.

Croatia and Hungary are competing against Italy and a joint bid from Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA had originally planned to decide on the host in December, but then postponed the decision until April next year.

Markovic dismissed speculation that recent troubles could threaten the bid. UEFA charged the Croatian and English FAs last week for incidents at Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium, where Croatia beat England 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier on October 11.

In August a small group of Croatian fans formed a swastika in the stands in a recent friendly against Italy while Croat fans were involved in fighting at matches in Malta and Hungary during the qualifying campaign for this year's World Cup.

"Problems with supporters are not unknown across the globe and I believe that severe sanctions are the only solution against troublemakers," Markovic said.

"However, I don't think we'll fail this time because of a portion of fans who misbehave."