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| Soccer Match in Serbia Erupts in Riot Set Off by Drone | Soccer Match in Serbia Erupts in Riot Set Off by Drone |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A soccer match between the national teams of Serbia and Albania had to be abandoned on Tuesday night in Belgrade after rioting provoked by the sudden appearance of a small drone, flying low over the stadium and trailing an Albanian nationalist banner. | A soccer match between the national teams of Serbia and Albania had to be abandoned on Tuesday night in Belgrade after rioting provoked by the sudden appearance of a small drone, flying low over the stadium and trailing an Albanian nationalist banner. |
| Video recorded by a spectator in the stands showed the immediate reaction from the Serbian fans, who booed and whistled before taking up a chant of “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Albanians, as a flare was thrown onto the field of play. | Video recorded by a spectator in the stands showed the immediate reaction from the Serbian fans, who booed and whistled before taking up a chant of “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Albanians, as a flare was thrown onto the field of play. |
| Serbian television showed the chaotic scenes that ensued after a Serbian player, Stefan Mitrovic, pulled down the banner as it dropped close to the field, and was immediately challenged by an Albanian player. | Serbian television showed the chaotic scenes that ensued after a Serbian player, Stefan Mitrovic, pulled down the banner as it dropped close to the field, and was immediately challenged by an Albanian player. |
| After the players faced off, journalists in the press box watched in amazement as Serbian fans, some wielding chairs, streamed onto the field and began attacking the Albanian team. | After the players faced off, journalists in the press box watched in amazement as Serbian fans, some wielding chairs, streamed onto the field and began attacking the Albanian team. |
| The officials, led by the English referee Martin Atkinson, then decided to suspend the game, and the players ran to their locker rooms. | The officials, led by the English referee Martin Atkinson, then decided to suspend the game, and the players ran to their locker rooms. |
| In a match report for The Guaridan that seemed closer to an account of a boxing contest than a soccer one, the correspondents Nick Ames and Sasa Ibrulj reported: | |
| Images shared on Twitter showed that the Albanian players — including a large contingent born in Kosovo, a former province of Serbia with an Albanian majority that fought a bitter war for its independence 15 years ago — were then pelted by objects thrown from the stands as they retreated. | |
| The banner that provoked the riot celebrated Albanian heroes, including one who fought the Serbs in the early 20th century, and ultranationalist aspirations for a state of “Greater Albania,” which would include all of Kosovo. The banner was also emblazoned with the word “autochthonous,” a reference to the Albanians’ claim that they are the indigenous people of the Balkans, descended from the ancient Illyrians, and that the Serbs are mere interlopers. | The banner that provoked the riot celebrated Albanian heroes, including one who fought the Serbs in the early 20th century, and ultranationalist aspirations for a state of “Greater Albania,” which would include all of Kosovo. The banner was also emblazoned with the word “autochthonous,” a reference to the Albanians’ claim that they are the indigenous people of the Balkans, descended from the ancient Illyrians, and that the Serbs are mere interlopers. |
| On social networks, the stunt was broadly condemned by Serbs as an unbearable provocation and celebrated by Albanians as a triumphant gesture. | On social networks, the stunt was broadly condemned by Serbs as an unbearable provocation and celebrated by Albanians as a triumphant gesture. |
| The episode inflamed nationalist passions far beyond the stadium, with reports of tension in the town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, which is divided between ethnic Albanians and Serbs. | The episode inflamed nationalist passions far beyond the stadium, with reports of tension in the town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, which is divided between ethnic Albanians and Serbs. |
| Video posted online on Tuesday night showed a crowd of Albanians responding in kind to the chant they heard in Belgrade earlier in the evening, chanting, “Kill! Kill! Kill Serbs!” | Video posted online on Tuesday night showed a crowd of Albanians responding in kind to the chant they heard in Belgrade earlier in the evening, chanting, “Kill! Kill! Kill Serbs!” |
| Meanwhile in Tirana, the Albanian capital, fans waited to greet the players returning from Belgrade as heroes, according to Albania’s youth minister, Erion Veliaj. | |
| Commenting on an image from the airport in Tirana, the Serbian blogger Vladan Đukanović observed that it seemed as if Albanians were “determined to outdo us in nationalist frenzy and stupidity.” |