FIFA has fined the Croatian and Serbian football federations for making politically tainted statements about the Balkans during the World Cup.

Football’s governing body has fined the Croatian federation 50,000 Swiss francs ($53,000) after fans of the team sent insulting messages to Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan, who has family ties to the club. Serbia.

The Serbian federation was fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($21,300) for a poster displaying a political message about neighboring Kosovo. The message was posted in the locker room before the team faced Brazil in their first game of this World Cup.

The banner featured a map of Serbia which included the territory of its former province, which has been an independent state for nearly five years. Also, there was a text that said “we don’t give up”.

Kosovo’s football federation has officially complained to FIFA about the blanket, which was unrolled from the lockers of two Serbian players on 24 November.

According to FIFA, the accusation against Croatia related to “the use of words and objects to convey an inappropriate message for a sporting event”.

Borjan was born in an area of ​​Croatia inhabited by ethnic Serbs. He and his family left their hometown in 1995, when it was retaken by Croatian forces.

Many ethnic Serbs reportedly fled in tractors.

On November 27, during the match Canada lost 4-1, a message posted by Croatian fans included an image of tractor manufacturer John Deere and changed the slogan to refer to Borjan.

FIFA also fined Saudi Arabia 30,000 Swiss francs ($32,000) for “team misconduct”, which picked up six yellow cards in matches against Argentina and Mexico.