Serbia threatens to withdraw from Euro 2024 due to chants
Serbia has issued a threat to withdraw from Euro 2024 following chants exchanged between fans during the Croatia and Albania match on Wednesday. During the 2-2 draw in the Group B match, fans were heard chanting about the killing of Serbians, causing significant controversy.
Jovan Surbatovic, the general secretary of the Football Association of Serbia, has demanded severe sanctions. He communicated to the Serbian state broadcaster RTS, “What happened is scandalous, and we will ask [European governing body] UEFA for sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition.”
Serbia, which is part of Group C, started their tournament with a 1-0 loss to England on Sunday. Surbatovic expressed confidence that punishments would be imposed, especially following UEFA’s decision on Wednesday to revoke the credentials of Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku. Sadiku had made a nationalist double-handed eagle gesture toward Serbian fans during the game against England. This gesture, imitating the eagle on Albania’s national flag, is known to heighten tensions between Serbian nationalists and ethnic Albanians, who form the majority of Kosovo’s population.
Surbatovic further emphasized, “We will demand from UEFA to punish the federations of both selections. We do not want to participate in this environment, but if UEFA does not punish them, we will consider our next steps.”
The BBC has reached out to Serbia and UEFA for additional comments.
Previously, Serbia was fined £12,250 after fans threw objects during the match against England. Additionally, Serbia and Albania faced fines as fans from both nations displayed nationalist maps during their opening matches.
Surbatovic defended Serbian fans by stating, “We were punished for isolated incidents, and our fans behaved much better than others. One fan was punished for racist insults, and we don’t want this to reflect on everyone else. We Serbs are gentlemen and we have open hearts, so I appeal to our fans to remain gentlemen.”
Serbia is scheduled to play against Slovenia at 14:00 BST on Thursday.