Frankfurt, Germany — Albanian player Mirlind Daku was suspended on Sunday for two games after leading fans in nationalist chants at the European Championships, which UEFA said had brought football into disrepute.
Daku took a megaphone after Albania 2-2 draw with Croatia on Wednesday in Hamburg and joined the shouts of order against Serbia and North Macedonia.
The incidents and consequences of the game in Hamburg were the most serious involving Balkan politics at the Euros, with the largest number of teams from the region playing – and offering a stage for some fans to air their concerns.
UEFA said its disciplinary judges found Daku guilty of “failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, of violating the basic rules of decent conduct, of using sporting events for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature and of bringing the sport of football into disrepute”. .”
UEFA also ordered the Albanian football federation to pay fines totaling 47,250 euros ($50,500) for incidents at the game in which its fans shouted an anti-Serb slogan, allegedly “Kill the Serbs”.
The Serbian Football Federation said it would withdraw from the tournament if UEFA did not punish the incidents.
On the field, Albania will play a decisive group stage game against Spain this Monday. If Albania advances, Daku will also be left out of the round of 16 game.
Daku later apologized for his actions in a social media post as UEFA appointed an internal investigator to look into his “alleged inappropriate behavior”.
The 26-year-old striker began playing for Albania last year after using his right under FIFA rules to change his eligibility from Kosovo, the former ethnic Albanian province of Serbia that declared independence 16 years ago.
UEFA also announced charges against its Albanian and Croatian member associations for “potential racist and/or discriminatory conduct” by fans on Wednesday.
However, only Albania was fined for “transmitting provocative messages inappropriate for a sporting event”. The Croatian federation was fined just 27,500 euros ($29,400) for fans lighting and throwing fireworks at the stadium.
The Albanian Football Federation, or FSHF, called on fans to be “responsible and avoid incidents and riots”.
“The FSHF invites fans and football lovers to support the Albanian team until the end on this magical and historic path to Euro 2024, showing citizenship and responsibility through correct behavior and respecting the rules and opponents”, says a statement.
Albania impressed at Euro 2024 with an opening 2-1 defeat against Italy and then a 2-2 draw with Croatia.
With three national teams from the former Yugoslavia at Euro 2024 – Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia – plus neighboring Kosovo Albania, fans showed that their shared history in the brutal Balkan war of the 1990s and diplomatic issues since then cannot be easily forgotten.
Nationalist chants have increased levels of hostility at Euro 2024, where provocative banners such as map flags have been expected to bring the policy in the 10 stadiums in Germany.
Serbia and Albania were fined by UEFA after their opening games for fans “delivering a provocative message”. It cost them 10,000 euros ($10,700) each for the first offense.
The flag of Serbian fans over Kosovo also led to a FIFA process involving players at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Serbia considers Kosovo the cradle of its state and the Orthodox Christian religion, and is among several European countries that do not recognize its independence.
In Germany last week, a television journalist from Kosovo had his accreditation canceled by UEFA after making the Albanian eagle gesture with both hands while broadcasting on the pitch in front of Serbian fans.
The Balkans’ Euro 2024 entries could have been five if Bosnia-Herzegovina had progressed past the qualifying stage in March, which Ukraine won.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, a Slovenian lawyer who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, said while watching Serbia’s decisive qualifying game in November that he would “certainly like” as many teams from the region as possible to qualify.
UEFA has a decision to make this year that could be very symbolic about the ability to unite sport, at a time when it blocks any pairings of teams from Kosovo against Serbian or Bosnian opponents in the draw ceremonies of its competitions for security reasons.
O The football federations of Albania and Serbia have joined forcesdespite opposition from many fans, in a bid to co-host the U21 Euros in 2027. The other candidates are Belgium and Turkey.
UEFA’s executive committee – which includes an Albanian vice-president, Armand Duka – is expected to vote on the 2027 host in December.
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Associated Press writes Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this report.
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