[D'iversify]

So I don't know if you've seen this, but last night's Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania was abandoned after a drone flew a provocative 'Greater Albania' flag into a Belgrade stadium which had been packed with Serbian supporters chanting 'Kill the Albanians' and other such charming numbers; a Serbian player tried to retrieve the flag, was accosted by a couple of the Albanian players, then a brawl broke out between the teams, Serbian fans invaded the pitch wielding, among other things, chairs, and the Albanian players had to flee the pitch for their own safety. Both teams will likely now face heavy disciplinary sanctions, possibly even points deductions, but it boggles the mind that UEFA let these two sides be drawn together in the same group in the first place.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/29627246

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-29627615

http://www.theguardi...a-inquiry-drone

http://www.theguardi...ania-mass-brawl

http://www.theguardi...ons-not-learned

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 15 October 2014 - 01:23 PM

[Gothos]

Fuckin' Balkans, I tell ya...

[Tiste Simeon]

It's disgusting! Why should they go through with a draw? Serbian fans should also be banned from future games too.

[Gothos]

Not to be completely one-sided, bringing a Greater Albania flag there wasn't exactly innocent either, not since the mess that was Kosovo and how that situation was handled and turned out. That was retartedly irresponsible.

[Ukjent]

Someone at UEFA had to be sitting at home during the match and saying " I told you so!"

[D'iversify]

Gothos, on 15 October 2014 - 12:37 PM, said:

Not to be completely one-sided, bringing a Greater Albania flag there wasn't exactly innocent either, not since the mess that was Kosovo and how that situation was handled and turned out. That was retartedly irresponsible.

Albanians definitely guilty of provocation (unless a false flag) and fighting on the pitch, but Serbian security in particular must come under criticism for failing to control the crowd and for not discovering and confiscating the drone beforehand. It was almost certainly operated by someone in the stadium. There were no Albanian away fans as it was agreed as a security measure beforehand that only home fans would be permitted at fixtures between these two sides, but there were of course Albanian representatives. Serbian media is reporting that the Albanian prime minister Rama's brother, who was there as a representative, was responsible ( http://www.independe...h-30664963.html ), but this seems unlikely, especially as Rama is due to pay what would be historical visit to Belgrade soon; nonetheless, the possibility definitely remains that a senior Albanian official was involved, which would be very serious, unless, as mentioned, it was a false flag operation by Serbian nationalists or it was done by an Albanian undercover fan (which seems unlikely as they would be putting their lives at risk launching a political provocation whilst sitting in the midst of Serbian fans).

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 15 October 2014 - 01:27 PM

[Khellendros]

My first few years I grew up in Bosnia (I'm half-Serb, but I always thought of myself as just Bosnian), and it's very sad - though hardly surprising - to see this come about. This was intended from the very moment that the match-up was announced. If it wasn't the Greater Albania flag it would have been something else. It was particularly sad to see the players and coaching staff joining in the fighting - you would have hoped that with many of them having gained a 'wider world' experience, they could have risen above it. But I suppose that is to devalue just how extremely sensitive an issue this still is - this isn't just ancient history, this is very very modern, current-day issues rising up.


What happened here is that some officials at UEFA saw what they thought would be a fantastic opportunity to creative a positive image around their brand - look at UEFA, bringing together two peoples that have warred for hundreds of years. Look at football, symbol of peace and unity. If the match had gone off without a hitch, you can bet anything that's how it would have been promoted.

Unfortunately, that was never going to happen, and these officials undoubtedly ignored repeated warnings before placing the two nations in the same group.