July 20, 2022 - Inter Zaprešić, the first Croatian Football Cup winner in 1992, is going down in history.

Once upon a time, the famous Pele held the plaque of the then Inker, the Croatia national team played in Zaprešić, and the yellow jersey was worn by Luka Modrić, Eduardo da Silva, and Vedran Ćorluka.

Inter Zaprešić today has no coach, no players, and only a month is left until the start of the second league championship.

Now, the club from the Zagreb suburbs is going into bankruptcy due to a debt to the players of 235 thousand euros, reports Gol.hr.

It all started with the coronavirus pandemic. After that, the Zaprešić club lost court cases with two former players, Russian Serder Serderov and Bulgarian Borislav Tsonev. 

Due to debt of 235,000 euros, Inter's transfer window has been blocked, which in turn means that they cannot bring in players, neither seniors nor juniors.

Unfortunately, this is not the only debt of the Croatian club, but as Branko Laljak told Dnevnik Nova TV a few days ago, these are debts that can be lived with.

A glimmer of hope was offered by possibly communicating with Dinamo. Damir Krznar would sit on the bench, and young talents would replace Maksimir with Zaprešić, but Dinamo did not hold their end of the bargain and ultimately gave up on the idea. 

At the last moment, the possibility of a new potential investor appeared, but that also didn't work out. A club assembly was called for Thursday, where the new investor was supposed to be presented, but nothing will come of it.

Zaprešić announced that this week they would withdraw from the First Football League, i.e., the second tier of Croatian football, and, by all accounts, will leave their place to NK Croatia Zmijavci.

In the next few days, the club will be liquidated:

"I don't know what to tell you; it's over. We need to keep our dignity and be serious; this week, we will withdraw from the second league competition. We tried everything, but so many things have come together against us, and there is no way out," Laljak told 24 Sata and added that the football school would continue with its work:

"We have to see what will happen with the football school; for sure, we will continue to work with them, but the only question is under what name. There will be no more Inter," he said and sadly concluded:

"We were supposed to have the Assembly, but nothing will come of it. All potential investors withdrew from this story".

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

June 5, 2020 - After a nearly three-month break due to COVID-19, the Croatian Football League returned on Friday for the 27th round match between Hajduk and Inter Zapresic at Poljud. TCN was there. 

While the football season in Croatia continued with the semifinals of the Croatian Cup last weekend, football fans in Croatia could hardly wait for the return of the Croatian Championship. The last game of the Croatian First League was played on March 9, when Lokomotiva celebrated in Gorica 3:1.

Exactly 88 days later, Hajduk was hungry for points to ensure second place and the Champions League qualifiers against the second-to-last place Inter, a club fighting to stay alive. Hajduk had celebrated in seven consecutive games against Zapresic in Split before tonight.

TCN reported live from a much quieter Poljud on Friday, as only journalists and a select few others were invited to witness the return of Hajduk outside of club members. Temperatures were checked upon entering the stadium, and no dilly-dallying was allowed - you were meant to go straight to your seat once inside. 

The pre-game protocol was also a bit different for players, who were not allowed to line-up or touch hands before kick-off. 

While the raging jugo wind and quiet stands didn't help either side on Friday, Hajduk dominated most of the first half - and Torcida even found a way to cheer outside of the stadium in the 25th minute - with fireworks! 

Unfortunately, Torcida's display couldn't help much - Inter's Mamut scored from a free-kick in the 37th minute for 0:1, which was how the first half ended. 

The ref consulted VAR in the 56th minute which saw a Hajduk penalty and a red card for Inter's Soldo. Caktas missed, though was given a second chance after the ref called that the keeper was off his line. Caktas scored this time for 1:1. 

Hajduk spent the remainder of the match in Inter's half, missing key chances for 2:1. And then it happened in the 7th minute of added time - Dimitrov scored for 2:1, which was the final score of the game. 

Slaven Belupo and Gorica will play on Saturday at 7 pm, and Varaždin and Dinamo at 9 pm, while the matches between Istra 1961 - Rijeka and Lokomotiva - Osijek will end the round on Sunday.

The Championship continues without spectators, but since the epidemiological situation in Croatia is good, the return of fans to the stadiums can be expected.

You can see the full HNL table HERE.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

April 9, 2019 - The 27th and 28th rounds of the Croatian First League was held from April 2 to 8, 2019, for one very busy week of Croatian football.

The results of Wednesday’s afternoon games in the round of 16 of the Croatian Cup came as no surprise.

"I received many messages from people in the football world saying how cheated we were," the Istria 1961 coach said after the game. 

Dinamo beat Rudeš at Maksimir with a score of 2:0 in front of just one hundred spectators.

Our beloved Hajduk Split will play their last home game of the season tonight at 19:00.

Disciplinary judge of the First Division, Saša Pavličić-Bekić, has adopted a decision to discharge the North stands at Poljud stadium. Hajduk Split will see games without fans in the North, and will have to pay a 30 thousand kuna fine, reported Index.hr yesterday.