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Serbia v Albania (UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying)

Serbia v Albania (2014)
Stadion Partizana.jpg
The Partizan Stadium in Belgrade hosted the match
Event UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
Group I
Matchday 3
Match abandoned at 0–0 after 42 minutes
Albania awarded 3–0 victory
Date 14 October 2014 (2014-10-14)
Venue Partizan Stadium, Belgrade
Referee Martin Atkinson (England)
Attendance 25,200
Weather Clear
20 °C (68 °F)
73% humidity

A UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match involving the national association football teams of Serbia and Albania took place on 14 October 2014 at Partizan Stadium, in Belgrade, Serbia. The match was abandoned after several on and off the field incidents. Serbian fans had chanted "Ubij, ubij, Šiptara" (Kill the Albanians), and threw flares and other objects on the pitch. At that point a drone quadcopter carrying an Albanian nationalist banner with an image of Greater Albania appeared on the pitch.

During an interruption of play, Albanian players rushed towards a Serbian player, Stefan Mitrović, who had brought down the banner from the drone attempting to remove it. Conflict arose when Bekim Balaj ran over and took the banner. This triggered a pitch invasion by Serbian fans and security stewards, who proceeded to attack some of the Albanian players, four of whom sustained minor injuries players. In addition to attacks by Serbian fans, the Albanian side claimed that their players were also attacked by stewards and riot police. This was denied and a counter-claim of provocation was made by Serbian officials.

On 24 October 2014, UEFA awarded Serbia a walkover against Albania, with Serbia deemed to have won the match 3–0, on the grounds that Albania had been at fault for refusing to resume the match. Serbia was, however, given a three-point deduction, and ordered to play its next two homes games behind closed doors. In addition both teams were fined €100,000. The decision was appealed by both Serbia and Albania, but the decision was upheld by UEFA. Both associations then filed further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on 10 July 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, but upheld in part the appeal filed by the Albanian FA. The CAS ruled that the match abandonment was caused by "security lapses of the organizers and acts of violence exerted on the Albanian players by the Serbian fans and at least one security steward", and therefore reversed the result, awarding a 3–0 victory to Albania. The points deduction to Serbia, fines, and order to play Serbia home games without a crowd were left intact.


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