Serbia have threatened to quit the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany unless the European football governing body, UEFA, imposes a strict punishment on the Croatia and Albania national teams.
Serbia want the fans punished because they chanted “Kill the Serbs” during a clash between Croatia and Albania.
The offensive chanting didn’t go well with Serbia, as they threatened they would quit the tournament, which may jeopardise the ambitions of the Three Lions in qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament.
The Serbian FA General Secretary, Jovan Surbatovic, reacted to the incident, saying, “What happened is scandalous, and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even at the cost of not continuing the competition.”
“We are sure that they will be punished because they have already responded to our appeal to remove the so-called journalist from Albania from the championship.”
“We will request that UEFA punish the federations of both selections. We don’t want to participate in that, but if UEFA doesn’t punish them, we will think about how to proceed.”
If the Serbia national team decide to quit the tournament, an automatic three points will be given to the Danish side, which could leave England sweating for qualification.
Croatia and Albania played a 2-2 draw in the Euro 2024, leaving the Croatian side with one point from two games in the tournament.
The quality of the game was overshadowed by the horrible behaviour of the fans from the two teams. All three Balkan nations were part of the former Yugoslav Republic, which went apart in the 1990s.
However, due to the war that led to the independence of those two nations (Croatia and Albania), coupled with the deaths of thousands of Croatians and Albanians, the fans continue to harbour hatred towards the Serbs.
The horrible chanting was followed by an earlier incident that happened in the match between the Three Lions and Serbia, where a Kosovo journalist threw an Albanian eagle sign towards the fans.
The journalist in question was banned from the remaining matches of the tournament for misconduct.
Previous Clash Between Serbia and the Albania National Team
The Serbia national team played against the Albania national team for the first time as an independent country in the qualifiers for Euro 2016. The match was filled with chaos from both ends.
Before the match was played, the UEFA put a ban on the Albanian fans to avoid the eruption of violence. The brother of the Prime Minister of Albania, Olsi Rama, was arrested for being the mastermind of the clash in 2016.
The Serbia national team was awarded a 3-0 win against the Albania national team after the match got suspended.
What Next for the Serbia National Team?
The Serbia national team will play against Denmark on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. It is a must-win for the Serbian side if they are interested in qualifying for the next round of Euro 2024.
The Serbia national team are currently in last place in Group C of the Euro 2024 with one point from two matches.
