The German Football Federation has told Bayern Munich's Croatian striker, Mario Mandzukic, to avoid any celebrations which could lead to ''false interpretations.''
Mandzukic scored in a 1-1 draw at Nuremberg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, then ran toward Bayern's fans and raised his right arm in a stiff salute, a gesture interpreted by Serbian media and others as being in honor of two Croatian generals released a day earlier by the Hague Tribunal.
The federation wrote a letter to Mandzukic and Bayern midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri telling them to avoid such gestures in the future. Shaqiri raised his right arm in a typical military salute. He is a Swiss national who was born in Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian province that has declared independence from Serbia.
In statements released by Bayern to German news media, both players denied any political intentions.
Mandzukic, however, wrote on his website Monday that his salute was ''only an expression of a strong personal emotion I felt as any Croatian citizen and that it should be treated in such a context only.''
''I am a Croat and I share the happiness of my compatriots,'' he wrote.
Mandzukic said his gesture was ''nothing sensational'' and didn't need to be discussed in the media.
Mandukic's agent, Ivan Cvjetkovic, told the Croatian daily Vecernji List that the celebration was linked to the release of the two generals.
On Friday, generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac were acquitted by the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on charges of being responsible for war crimes against minority Serbs during a 1995 Croatian military blitz that resulted in hundreds dying and hundreds of thousands being expelled.
The two were welcomed back in Croatia as heroes, but their release was denounced in Serbia and has put a new strain on relations between two nations that fought a war in the 1990s.
A proposal by Croatia coach Igor Stimac that Gotovina and Markac take the honorary kickoff at the start of a World Cup qualifier between the two nations on March 22 in Zagreb was greeted with fury by Serbian football officials.
Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, a Serb born in Croatia, said his team would boycott the match if the two are allowed on the field.
''I believe that neither FIFA nor UEFA will allow that they take the starting kickoff,'' Mihajlovic said. ''However, if that happens, we won't play the match. That's the only way they can defeat us.''
After receiving criticism from his own federation, Stimac said his words ''were taken out of context.''
Croatian football federation President Davor Suker said Stimac ''needs a spanking'' for the proposal.
''We have to lessen the tensions and that's how we have to behave,'' Suker said. ''We have to show that we are a civilized state. We have to show respect toward Serbia.''
Croatia and Belgium lead Group A with 10 points, with Serbia six points behind. The winner qualifies for the 2014 tournament and the second-place team will probably advance to a playoff.
