(Belgrade) The head of the Serbian football federation threatened on Thursday to withdraw his team from Euro 2024 after hearing supporters chanting slogans hostile to his country during the Croatia-Albania match (2-2) on Wednesday.
“What happened is scandalous,” Federation (FSS) Secretary General Jovan Surbatovic told Serbian media RTS on Wednesday evening. According to him, supporters of both teams notably chanted “kill, kill, kill the Serbs”.
“We will ask UEFA to take sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition,” he said.
“We will ask UEFA to punish the two federations, and if UEFA does not sanction them, we will consider what to do,” added the Serbian leader.
Serbia has had tense relations with Albania and Croatia for decades.
In the 1990s, the countries of the former Yugoslavia were torn apart in a series of wars, notably in Bosnia and Croatia. The opinions of these countries still consider that the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was at the origin of this bloodbath.
Serbia also waged a war against Albanian insurgents in the breakaway province of Kosovo in the late 1990s, triggering NATO military intervention in the conflict.
Serbia was almost eliminated from the Euro on Thursday after a defeat against England (1-0) in its first match, and a draw (1-1) against Slovenia on Thursday.