The Balkan issue ignites Euro 2024. The president of the football federation Serbian, Jovan Surbatovicannounced that it will submit a request to the UEFA why sanctions the federations of Croatia And Albania for the chants of their fans during the match in Hamburg on 19 June, which ended 2-2. Before, during and after the match, the supporters of the two teams fraternized in the name of their common enemy, Serbia. This is demonstrated by the video of the correspondent of Republic, Franco Vanni, filmed a few minutes before the start of the match: among gestures of friendship, the chants “Serbia, Serbia vaffa…” can be clearly heard. And again, during the meeting, as a background to the words of the various commentators, the chorus sung to the rhythm of the drums: “Ubi, ubi Srbina”, or “Kill the Serbs”. “What happened is scandalous and we will ask for sanctions from UEFA, even at the cost of not continuing the competition”, said Surbatovic. “We do not want to participate in all this – he added – and if UEFA does not punish similar behaviour, we will think about how to proceed”. A clear threat of withdrawal from the competition, which would open up completely new scenarios: a distorted group, the 3-0 forfeit, the inevitable, consequent sanctions for the Belgrade federation.
The precedent of Serbia-Albania in 2014
This is but the latest episode of a ferocious rivalry, which goes far beyond the world of sport, a poisonous aftermath of the Balkan war. The most sensational episode, on a football pitch, in 2014, with the suspension, a Belgradeof Serbia-Albania, Euro 2016 qualifying match. The match was interrupted by the referee Atkinson towards the end of the first half, when a drone with a giant flag of Greater Albania, with the writing “native Kosovo” and the date 1912 (the Albanian uprising), flew over the Partizan Stadium, gliding onto the pitch. Kosovo is a state with an Albanian majority, which Serbia considers part of its territory, not recognizing its independence. The Serbian player Mitrovic grabbed and threw the flag away, unleashing the anger of the Albanians, who then – after coming to blows with the opposing players – fled the pitch (and never returned) when they became victims of various objects being thrown from the stands of the Belgrade plant.
