Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Drone Breaks Up Euro Qualifier

((HT: Sport Central))

This might be the next step in hooliganism- the HQ is still trying to figure out if this move below was a genius one-off or the beginning of something that could get infinitely more dangerous over time.

Serbia and Albania were going at it in the first half of their Euro 2016 qualifier when someone got very ingenious with their attempt at game interruption. This, folks, was no black lab...


When you wave an Albanian flag in Belgrade, it's the equivalent of waving something in a bull's face in the ring.

UEFA had banned Albanian fans from being in the building, so someone decided to fly the drone. The Albanian flag had a map of Kosovo and the message 'autochthonous', meaning indigenous- drooping from the craft.

That's when players and fans all got into it. Serbian defender Stefan Mitrovic pulled the flag down and that act seemed to start it.

The political background for all of this dates back to 1999 when NATO had an almost three-month long air war to stop the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Serbian forces. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but this is not recognized by Serbia. Adding to that, seven of Albania's squad were born in the Kosovo region.

The match was abandoned and may not have been a good idea in the first place.

According to Reuters, the brother of Albanian Prime Minister was arrested in the V.I.P Box and was found with a remote.

'He was arrested on suspicion that he masterminded and executed the incident in which a flag with a map of greater Albania was flown over the pitch and the terraces, after which the match between Serbia and Albania was abandoned."

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