SERBIA MAKE HEADLINES
The Serbian national football team has never really managed to make its way in the headlines of websites or newspapers in the world of football but things took a major twist on October 14 when Serbia received Albania at the Partizan Stadium and the match turned into a heated brawl between players and fans.
The match that was being played was a 2016 Euro’s qualifiers but it could never actually be completed after a drone hovered around the pitch with a pro-Albanian banner and from there on out, after the Serbian player Stefan Mitrovic pulled down the banner from the drone, things started to get out of control with fans coming into the pitch and even players fighting with each other.
It wasn’t until a few days ago that FIFA officially announced what decision they were going to make concerning this match and it was confirmed that Serbia was going to claim the victory but the Serbian national football squad did not actually claim all 3 points as FIFA deducted all those points as punishment.
Both national teams have also been given fines of $127,000 as consequences from their actions displayed on the pitch.
The game was suspended at the 41st minute and when things started to calm down with authorities getting everything under their control, Albania and Serbia were given the option of continuing on with the match but Albania refused to continue on and this is why FIFA awarded Serbia with the victory even though no points were given.
Albania is expected to appeal the decision of FIFA and the Albanian lawyer Chimi Shkohoxha stating:
“This is a travesty. It’s a cop out. We are totally committed to banishing racism from football, and this judgment appears to fly in the face of that aim. This is not about the point, it’s about fighting racism.”
Serbia is also expected to appeal the decision of FIFA and hopefully try to reduce or eliminate in its entirety, the fine of $127,000 that they received.