Serbia v Albania is much more than a football match. Historically it is huge :

  1. Albanian fans were banned from attending the match between the two Balkan rival nations, due to the turbulent relations between the two.
  2. These have mainly surrounded the over the former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province of Kosovo.
  3. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but this is not recognised by Serbia.
  4. NATO waged a 78-day air war in 1999 to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Serbian forces fighting a two-year counter-insurgency war.
  5. Seven of Albania's squad were born in the Kosovo region

Last night saw both sides meet in Belgrade with no away fans allowed. The Albanian national anthem was drowned out with whistles. All seemed to be passing by quite calmly, this sadly was until the 41st minute when the following happened :

  1. A drone carrying the Albanian flag was flown in above the pitch
  2. Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic pulled the flag down and was confronted
  3. English ref Martin Atkinson led the players off the Partizan Stadium
  4. Match was later abandoned and UEFA will now investigate the incident

The flag itself wasn't the national flag of Albania, the double-headed eagle, as featured on the Albanian flag, is imposed upon so-called 'Greater Albania' where ethnic Albanians are usually found. The word 'Autochthonous' refers to Serbia's alleged attempts to take over Kosovo despite not being "indigenous" to the region. The man on the left of the flag is Ismail Qemal, who is founder of the Albanian national movement. On the right of the flag is Isa Boletini, a nationalist figure who fought in the Albanian Revolt in Kosovo in 1910 and later in World War I against Serbia

Journalist Nick Ames was at the game, and writing for Mail Sport , he said "Perhaps I should have known better, but as Serbia - Albania neared half-time I had started thinking to myself that the evening had, after all, gone off in relative calm. Sure, you could not hear a single note of the Albanian national anthem above the whistles and howls; sure, you didn’t need too big a Serbian vocabulary to know that the chants from the ultras just below Partizan Stadium’s press box were about as colourful as it gets. But, a couple of chances for the visiting side apart, Serbia had controlled the first half and – with no away fans in the stadium – there seemed little scope for trouble unless the visitors took a shock lead."


Above: Look as the carnage unfolds in Belgrade.

It is not yet expected what will happen to both nations, but sever punishments are likely to be placed on both Albania and Serbia.