SOCCER ASSOCIATION ADOPTS REPORT ON VUKOVAR TOURNAMENT

ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - War veterans associations requested the management of the soccer club Vukovar '91 that the official opening match of a soccer tournament, held at the end of June in Vukovar, be attended exclusively by children of Croatian soldiers and those killed in the war. The request was accepted, having as a consequence a Serb boy not being allowed to play in the match, however, he was enabled to participate in another soccer match. This is the explanation of the Croatian Soccer Association's executive committee, which on Wednesday accepted a report by the tournament's organiser about the event, which a large part of the public described as an incident. #L# Officials who addressed a news conference in the HNS offices today said the committee in charge of organising the tournament did not ban the boy from taking part in the event. They said that the soccer club Vukovar '91, whose member the boy has been for a year, was open for all who wanted to play soccer and that all players were treated the same regardless of their ethnic origin. An advisor at the HNS, Ante Pavlovic, said there was a dozen Serb boys in the club's younger player categories and that the coach of the pioneer team was also of Serb descent. The HNS has discussed and accepted the report submitted by the chairman of the organising committee of the Vukovar tournament, Petar Mlinaric, and commended numerous amateurs who helped organise a successful event, Pavlovic said. He stressed the importance of soccer in promoting coexistence in that part of Croatia. "If the boy had not participated, we would be able to say that he was wronged. But, he did play and he continues to train regularly," Mlinaric said, adding that he had not been contacted about the case by anyone from international organisations operating in Croatia. (hina) rml sb