During Wednesday’s match between Albania and Croatia, both groups of fans shouted particularly violent insults against Serbia. Now, the Serbian Football Association is demanding severe punishments for the Albanian and Croatian fans, with the Serbians willing to sacrifice their participation in the Euros, according to the Secretary-General of the Serbian Football Association.
Tensions often run high when Balkan countries face off on the field, sometimes leading to violent confrontations. This was not the case when Albania and Croatia played on Wednesday, in an exciting 2-2 draw.
Instead, the numerous Albanian and Croatian fans present found a common enemy, chanting against Serbia during the game: “Ubij, ubij, ubij Srbina,” which means “kill, kill, kill the Serb.”
The Serbian Football Federation reacted to the violent chants with a strong appeal to UEFA to penalize both Albania and Croatia, following an earlier disciplinary action by UEFA against Albania in the first round of the group stage.
“What happened is outrageous, and we urge UEFA to sanction them, even if it costs us our continued participation in the tournament,” said Jovan Šurbatović, Secretary-General of the Serbian Football Federation (FSS), according to Serbian news outlet Novosti.
On the same occasion, the Secretary-General complained about the sanction imposed on the Serbian Football Federation by UEFA after the first matchday, in which the FSS was fined for throwing objects onto the pitch and for “conveying provocative messages not appropriate at sporting events.”
“We call on UEFA to penalize the football associations of both teams (Albania and Croatia). We do not want to participate in this (potential sanction process), but if UEFA does not penalize them, we have to consider how to proceed,” Šurbatović said.
The Albanian Football Federation was also under scrutiny from UEFA after the match against Italy in the first round, and according to UEFA’s press release, the football federation now faces fines exceeding 35,000 euros.
UEFA’s disciplinary committee decided to penalize Albania for four infractions after the first round: use of pyrotechnics, throwing objects onto the pitch, pitch invasion, and provocative messages, similar to the case with Serbia.
In the past, Albania and Serbia have been involved in violent confrontations, such as in October 2014, when the two teams faced off in Belgrade in a European Championship qualifier.
A drone carrying a flag with an image of so-called Greater Albania flew over the pitch after Serbian fans had chanted “Ubij, ubij Šiptara” – translated as “kill, kill the Albanian” – leading to fights on the field between Serbian and Albanian players before home fans invaded the pitch and attacked several Albanian players.
The result was a 3-0 victory for Albania, which qualified for their first European Championship, but it is unlikely that Wednesday’s controversy will have a similar outcome, as both Albanian and Croatian fans participated in the violent chants.
Despite the disputes between Serbs and Albanians, which have extended to the rivalry between Serbia and Switzerland, as the latter has several players with Albanian roots from Kosovo, including stars Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, Albania and Serbia are currently planning to bid to co-host the 2027 Under-21 European Championship.