"It has nothing to do with fascism," said Lyon rookie Dejan Lovren in an interview with AFP on Friday, accused of having taken up a neo-Nazi song during the post-World Cup celebrations.
Responding to the controversy, the Croatian evokes another song, “patriotic”.
“I have already explained everything in Croatia about this video on YouTube but it has not been taken up in France, he says.
For me, it's a patriotic song that relates to my country, which means that I love my country.
The song we are talking about is not “Za dom Spremni” but “Cavoglavé” which is not at all fascist.
It goes back to the liberation of the country and the glory of Croatia that we all sing to celebrate a happy event.
My country fought for its independence, obtained very recently, and is still under construction.
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Since the return to Croatia and the celebrations for 3rd place at the World Cup, several videos have indeed shown him making gestures and singing songs to the glory of the Ustashi, a pro-Nazi Croatian movement dating from the Second World War. world.
“I was attacked, continues Lovren.
We distort in an immediately negative way without referring to the right song.
It has nothing to do with fascism.
So I'm surprised.
I arrive in Lyon with a positive energy that I want to display on the pitch to pass on to my teammates.
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Lovren is then revived on the controversy linked to a tweet dating from last April in which he unsubscribed from the Disney + streaming platform because of its new policy of inclusion of the LGBT movement.
“I have taken a lot of stand, especially for Fifa and UEFA, against discrimination, racism with in particular support for Moïse Kean of Juventus or recently Samuel Umtiti, as well as for the rights of refugees, defends the central defender .
I also supported the “Black Live Matter”.
I have always thought that discrimination has no place in the world of football and now I am being attacked on this subject.
As on LGBT, there was never a problem and I never had a problem with all these subjects.
In Lyon, ten years ago,
I had also helped the foundation through several operations against discrimination.
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