Follow up to Albania Serbia Soccer Game:
International Politics Played A Role In Fighting
Yesterday I wrote about the 2016 European Cup qualifier between Serbia and Albania that was to be held yesterday in Belgrade, and the political history as it related to precautions security was taking. Given the political history of Kosovo as it relates to Albania, Serbia, and the Kosovars, there was fear that unrest might take place if both sides would be in the stands. And thus, no tickets were to be sold to Albanian supporters.
The game began, but right before half-time, someone flew a drone over the playing field in Belgrade. From the drone hung an black and red flag. In the center of the flag was a map of Greater Albania, a map that represents aspirations by some Albanians that an Albania would encompass Albania proper, parts of Macedonia, Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, and north Greece. Furthermore, next to this map were two images of key historical Albanian figures, Ismail Qemali (who presided over Albania following its declaration of independence in 1912 (and is seen as founding the Albanian state), and Isa Boljetini, who fought for Albanian independence. It also had the word “Autochthonous,” which refers to an indigenous inhabitant of a place…”, referring to Albanians as indigenous to Kosovo.
As the flag was coming down, a Serbia player Stefan Mitrovic grabbed the flag. Following this, Albanian players rushed to take it from him. This sparked a shouting and pushing match. Then, individuals from the stands came onto the field, and people were throwing punches (CNN, 2014) and chairs. There was also a flare shot towards an Albanian player (Ames, 2014) The ref, calling the match, called for the teams to leave the field. As the Albanian players were leaving, many were throwing things at them, and others tried to attack them. The video shows Serbian players trying to protect the Albanian players as they left into the tunnel.
This was indeed a frightening scene, given that a fight broke out, and that fans rushed to the field. Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt. This is just another example of how international relations issues, and political issues can make their way to sports. Here, the provocation began with the drone. The flyer of the drone must have known what effect this would have caused in the stadium. Furthermore, Serbian fans continued to chant various derogatory chants against Albanians (Guardian, 2014), which were highly offensive.
Moreover, the ability of individuals to enter the field and confront the Albanian players was horrific and highly concerning. Many of the Albanian players criticized the security for their inability to protect them (Guardian, 2014). It was evident that players were attacked.
Again, it is quite sad when such an event transpires, and when individuals continue to demonize the other, and use nationalism to speak against other nationalities. This does not get us anywhere nearer to the idea of cooperation, or the notion of global citizenship. Let us hope that Fifa and Uefa deal with this properly, and punish everyone who committed wrong, and let us hope nothing happens if they play the game again, or if they don’t, let us hope there will be no such actions in Elbasan for the next game.
