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Albania charged by Uefa with refusing to play Serbia after abandonment Albania and Serbia face heavy Uefa sanctions after abandoned game
(about 1 hour later)
The Football Association of Albania has been charged by Uefa for “refusing to play”, following the the abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia in Belgrade. Serbia and Albania face heavy sanctions from Uefa amid the continuing fallout from the extraordinary melee sparked by a low-flying drone that caused their match in Belgrade to be abandoned on Tuesday night.
The Albanian FA has also been charged over the display of “an illicit banner” and there were charges too for its Serbian counterpart as Uefa opened disciplinary proceedings against both countries, who face stiff sanctions from the governing body. The Serbian FA accused their rivals of a “pre-planned terrorist action” after a remote-controlled drone carrying the insignia of so-called “Greater Albania” flew low over the pitch, sparking a brawl involving players, fans and stewards.
The match was abandoned after a melee erupted after a mini unmanned drone trailed a pro-Albania flag over the stadium. The incident also forced Uefa to defend its policy of keeping some countries apart for political reasons but allowing Albania and Serbia to play in Belgrade for the first time since 1967.
The Serbian hosts have been charged over “insufficient organisation,” fireworks being set off, missiles being launched, a crowd disturbance, a field invasion by supporters and the use of a laser pointer, Uefa said. In the wake of the war in the region in the late 1990s, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and its football association is currently seeking full recognition from Fifa. The majority of Kosovans are ethnic Albanians.
The case will be dealt with by Uefa’s control, ethics and disciplinary body on 23 October. Serbian media, and the country’s foreign minister, put the blame on the brother of Edi Rama, the Albanian Prime Minister, with some media reporting that he had been arrested in the VIP stands of the stadium with the remote control in his hands.
The Serbian FA has launched fierce criticism of Albania claiming their team acted with restraint despite being provoked by the “offensive” flag and were then attacked when they tried to remove it from the field. Olsi Rama, a US citizen, confirmed that he had been held by police but denied he had been arrested and said he wasn’t behind the incident, with an Albanian fan’s group on Facebook called The Smugglers later appearing to take the credit.
It said Albania’s response to the controversy had been “scandalous” and suggested it had been a “scenario of a terrorist action planned in advance”. “I’ve never used a drone in my life, only bought my son a toy helicopter,” said Rama.
The statement said: “Serbian player Stefan Mitrovic managed to catch the flag and, as it can be clearly seen on all the footages, started to fold it as calmly as possible, in order to give it to the fourth official and for the match to be continued. Absolutely all of the Serbian players and officials on the bench were in their seats, calm and without any attempt to show force or rage because of the incident. However, Albanian players acted very aggressively and physically attacked Mitrovic. The incident was immediately condemned by Michel Platini, the Uefa president. “Football is supposed to bring people together and our game should not be mixed with politics of any kind. The scenes in Belgrade last night were inexcusable,” he said.
“For the truth and justice we will not and do not want to allow the perpetrators who violated football to present themselves as victims.” Sepp Blatter, Fifa’s president, added: “Football should never be used for political messages. I strongly condemn what happened in Belgrade.”
The statement said the Serbian FA had then asked Uefa to finish the match after emptying the stadium or to replay it this week but the Albania FA refused. The furore over the politically-charged incident grew on Wednesday amid claim and counter-claim, as Uefa confirmed that it had opened disciplinary proceedings against both teams.
It added: “According to that, we estimate that they are directly guilty for the match abandonment and we expect that UEFA disciplinary bodies will register the match with 3:0 result, in favour of Serbia. Serbia were formally charged with setting off fireworks, crowd disturbance, a pitch invasion, “insufficient organisation” and the use of a laser pen.
“It is a scandalous fact that the other party, with their ‘job well done’ is ridiculing not only FA of Serbia and Serbian people but also, we dare to say, Uefa.” Albania were charged with refusing to play and the “display of an illicit banner”. Branislav Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender, said the Serbians wanted to play on but their Albanian opponents were “unfit physically and mentally” to return to the field.
The Albania squad returned to a heroes’ reception, with up to 3,000 flag-waving supporters gathering outside Tirana’s airport to welcome the team home. According to Serbia, they asked Uefa to finish the match after emptying the stadium or to replay it this week but the Albania FA refused.
Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, praised the players on Twitter for “the pride and joy they gave us” Given Serbia’s poor record on crowd control and racism, if the charges are proved, they can be expected to have to play several games behind closed doors, starting with next month’s qualifier against Denmark.
Serbia could have to play their next Euro 2016 qualifier, at home on 14 November against Denmark, without any fans. Both sides have been given seven days to plead their case, with Uefa’s disciplinary committee due to rule on October 23 on sanctions, whether the game should be replayed and how the points should be apportioned if not.
Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, said he was saddened by the violence. The Euro 2016 qualifier was halted for the second time after 41 minutes by the referee, Martin Atkinson, after flares were hurled onto the pitch
“Football is supposed to bring people together and our game should not be mixed with politics of any kind,” Platini said. “The scenes in Belgrade last night were inexcusable.” The drone hovered into view, clearly displaying the flag, which hung close to the pitch before being grabbed by the Serbia defender, Stefan Mitrovic. When several Albanian players attempted to take it from him, a melee ensued.
There was also condemnation from FIifa’s president, Sepp Blatter, who wrote on Twitter: “Football should never be used for political messages. I strongly condemn what happened in Belgrade.” Television pictures showed Serbian fans and stewards attempting to attack the Albanian players, who refused to return to the pitch. Following a tense half-hour wait, Atkinson abandoned the match altogether.
Albanian fans had been warned against attending the game between the two Balkan rival nations that have had turbulent relations – mainly over the former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province of Kosovo that declared independence in 2008. In a rambling 1,500 word statement the Serbian FA placed the blame for the incident firmly on the Albanian players and officials, claiming they were “accomplices” to a plan that was a “pre-planned terrorist action”.
But neither Serbia nor Albania asked to be separated in qualifying, said the Uefa spokesman Pedro Pinto, who also highlighted the lack of ongoing military conflict between the nations. “The incident itself and the behaviour of the Albanian players, coach and staff leaves no room for doubt that they were part of a synchronised plan to stop the match,” the FSS claimed.
Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have a territorial dispute, have been kept apart by Uefa in draws since their scheduled Euro 2008 qualifiers were cancelled, and Spain refuse to play Gibraltar because of a sovereignty dispute with the British territory. “It was a well-planned political diversion and, at the end of the day, it was the key factor which led to the match being abandoned,” it added. “All Mitrovic wanted to do was remove the flag so that the match could continue but the Albanian players attacked him. We also wish to point out that the home Serbia fans displayed no offensive banners at any point in time. “However, there is no excuse for the pitch invasion by some individuals and after reviewing the footage the FSS will press charges against the offenders.”
Uefa defended its decision not to prevent the two nations being placed in separate qualifying groups, as it did with Spain and Gibraltar, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.
A spokesman said three criteria were used to determine whether two countries should be kept apart: whether they had normal diplomatic relations, whether there was an ongoing military or armed conflict and whether there had been a request made by either national association.
In this case, he said, Serbia and Albania had normal diplomatic relations, were not engaged in an armed conflict and had not requested to be kept apart.
“The match is then analysed by Uefa’s international committee. When the draw was made there was no negative reaction from either side at the time. But both associations agreed not to take their own supporters to away matches. Uefa fully supported this move,” said the spokesman.
“All the conditions were met at the time. There was no clear reason why these teams should be kept apart.”