With the abolishing of the
one-party political system in
SFR Yugoslavia in 1990,
SR Croatia's (constituent republic within the Yugoslav federation)
first parliamentary elections were held over two rounds of voting on 22 April and 7 May 1990 resulting in an overwhelming victory for the nationalist
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by
Franjo Tuđman. With the rising nationalism and ethnic tensions, several incidents took place at football matches in SR Croatia over the coming months. Only six days later, on Sunday, 13 May 1990, a
riot broke out at Maksimir Stadium during a Yugoslav First League match between the
Croatian club
Dinamo Zagreb and the
Serbian club
Red Star Belgrade. Dinamo midfielder 21-year-old
Zvonimir Boban attacked a policeman and got a 6-month suspension by the
Yugoslav FA (FSJ), causing him to miss the
1990 FIFA World Cup as well as the pre-tournament friendlies. At one of those friendlies on 3 June 1990 versus the Netherlands at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb (Yugoslavia's last preparation match before the World Cup) local Croatian fans booed the Yugoslav anthem and players, while cheering for the opposing Netherlands side which won the match 0-2. On 26 September 1990, several weeks into the
following Yugoslav League season, another incident broke out, this time in
Split.
Hajduk Split's home match against
Partizan Belgrade at
Poljud Stadium was cancelled after local fans stormed the pitch, chased Partizan players off, tore down the Yugoslav flag from the official mast and burned it. ==Game==