A man looks at the pitch appearing to show the pattern of a swastika

UEFA has deducted one point from Croatia in their European Championship qualifying campaign after a swastika was painted on the field of play before a match against Italy.

Croatia were also fined 100,000 euros and must play their next two home qualifiers in an empty stadium. They will host Bulgaria in October.

In addition, UEFA has barred Croatia from playing qualifiers in Split, which hosted the 1-1 draw with Italy on June 12.

Croatia will stay top of Group H even with the sanction; they now lead Italy by one point after six matches with Norway three points adrift on 10.

Croatia FA vice-president Ante Kulusic implied it was unlikely they would be appealing and admitted he fears the consequences if there were to be any repeat.

He said: "This is the verdict we had hoped for although we feared that we might be expelled from qualifying. We got let off the hook today but if anything like this happens again, no one will able to save us.

"The UEFA decision shows that these individuals who tried to destroy Croatia with their heinous act have failed. Croatia will qualify for Euro 2016 while these hooligans must look at their lives."

The swastika was marked in the middle of the half Italy were attacking in the first half. The match was played behind closed doors as punishment for racist chanting and other misconduct by Croatia fans at a previous European qualifier.