Latest information on the Ivan Rakitić incident on the island of Ugljan.
Here is the latest information about the Ivan Rakitić incident on the island of Ugljan, according to Dalmatinski Portal and Index.hr on July 2, 2016.
After very worrying first news that a villa on the island of Ugljan where Ivan Rakitić and his family was staying was attacked with stones, Marko Bralić, his best man and a good friend, immediately rushed to the scene of the incident. “We should not raise tensions over this. A single stone was thrown, although it was a sizable one, and it is possible than just one person did it. It happened just after lunch, the glass was broken, which especially upset his wife and they decided to leave the villa”, says Bralić.
“This is insane and we should not connect it in any way with anything that is happening with regards to fans and the Croatian Football Federation. Regardless of the fact that his family is originally from Slavonia, Rakitić feels at home in Split and Dalmatia. People in our city love him and you can write that Rakitić will continue with his holidays as planned and he will surely come for a few days to Split. I want you to emphasize that – to his Split, where he feels at home.”
In conclusion of this part of the story, we can say that Rakitić and his family went to Ugljan because there wanted to have a few days of peace, and this ugly episode did not deter them from spending their summer holidays in Croatia. Indeed, his friends from Split say that for the last ten years he has tried to spend every free moment in the city of Split, where the Barcelona star is very popular and where many people take photos with him.
In the meantime, the local municipality on Ugljan has also provided additional information. “Rakitić had nothing but praise for his short stay on Ugljan. After the incident, he wanted to stay in the villa, but at the urging of his wife they left in the late afternoon”, said Mayor of the Municipality of Preko Karlo Novoselić, who lives just a hundred metres away from the villa in which Rakitić stayed.
He said that the incident took place at 2.15 pm, while the Rakitić family was having lunch. They heard glass breaking in the area of a large winter garden. “I came up to them and saw the stone of about two kilograms. We immediately asked nearby swimmers and neighbours if they had seen someone. No one saw anything. I suppose it was done by an individual, a highly irresponsible one, and I do not think it was a person from the island”, says Novoselić.
According to him, Rakitić was supposed to stay there until 6 July, but eventually decided to leave at the urging of his wife. There was no hooligan attack nor anything like that, according to Novoselić, but just an act of a single person. He talked with Rakitić for more than an hour, and the famous footballer was not too excited.
The Municipality issued an official statement: “We, the people of Čeprljanda and the island of Ugljan, are shocked by yesterday's incident in which an unknown person broke a window on the villa where famous football player Ivan Rakitić was staying. We condemn this insane act and we are confident that it was not committed by any of the locals who were thrilled with the visit of the famous guest and would not do anything to endanger his stay.
We hope that the police will quickly and efficiently find the guilty party and that they will be adequately punished. This act has brought disrepute to our town and island, and we are therefore convinced that this was not done by the local population, but by an individual whose aim was to damage the reputation of Ugljan, which year after year is becoming ever more attractive destination.
It should be stressed that we are extremely pleased that Ivan Rakitić, despite the incident, went away full of praise for the hospitality of our residents. He, too, was very welcoming to everyone who wanted to take a photo or have his autograph. It is a real pity that he had to leave early because of this isolated incident. He himself wanted to stay after the incident, but after consulting with his wife he decided to leave.
We thank the Rakitić family for their stay in Čeprljanda and apologize for the inconvenience they have experienced. Unfortunately, this case also demonstrated the possibilities of media hysteria which caused unverified information to be distributed at high speed, which further harmed not only the tourism of our island, but also of the entire Croatia. We therefore invite the media to be responsible and fair in reporting, without any form of sensationalism”, states the official statement.
