Croatian fans target Borjan's refugee history during FIFA World Cup match against Canada
Canadian national team goalkeeper Milan Borjan was the target of discriminatory chants and signage during his team’s loss to Croatia on Sunday that effectively eliminated them from the FIFA World Cup.
Borjan was born in Knin, a city in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, to Serbian parents in 1987.
Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Borjan’s family was driven out of his childhood home (as were many other Serbs) during the Croatian War of Independence in 1995, settling in Belgrade, Serbia, before relocating to Winnipeg and then eventually Hamilton, Ontario, in 2000.
Per UK journalist Sam Street, Croatian fans took aim at Borjan’s family history, holding up a John Deere tractor sign with the tagline “Knin 95 — nothing runs like Borjan” in reference to Borjan and other Serbs leaving the country on refugee convoys.
The flag is of tractor manufacturer John Deere – a reference to Serbs in Croatia being forced to leave the country in refugee convoys on tractors during the Croatian Army's Operation Storm in 1995. pic.twitter.com/L6wcusOvIT
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) November 27, 2022
Borjan currently plays on Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, the most successful club in domestic history and a longtime rival of Croatia clubs such as Dinamo Zagreb.
Croatian fans were also heard chanting “Borjane ustašo,” a reference to the Croatian-based Nazi-supporting Ustaše political movement that was active in the Second World War and murdered Jews, Serbians, and other minority groups in Croatia.
Borjane ustašo! 😂 pic.twitter.com/sdZINxQwuh
— Mali Macchiato ☕ (@IvanMarkoti2) November 27, 2022
Per Street, Borjan’s phone number was leaked to Croatian fans who sent him upwards of 2,000 messages following the match.
“It shows how primitive people are. I have nothing to comment on that. They should work on themselves and their families, because they obviously have some frustration, so they come here to vent,” Borjan said, per Street, adding that he was not going to report the messages to Canada Soccer or FIFA. “These are children who show that they do not know what it is and how it was, that says everything about them.”
None of FIFA, Canada Soccer, nor the Croatian national federation has yet to issue a public statement on the comments.
Canada fell 4-1 to Croatia, having lost both of their first two group stage matches after falling to Belgium last week.
Borjan is one of Canada’s longest-standing players on their FIFA World Cup roster, having first broken into the national team in 2011.
“We’re one country,” Borjan said in January about playing for the Canadian national team. “Canada is a multicultural country. We fight for what’s given to us. Canada gave us peace, better schools, a better life… better everything. This is [just] the way of us to return it to Canada.”
Follow Channels and Categories