Serbia Threatens To Quit 2024 Euros, Demands Croatia And Albania Be Punished For Chanting ‘Kill The Serbs’

The Serbian national team has threatened to withdraw from the ongoing 2024 European Championship if UEFA doesn’t penalize Croatia and Albania for offensive chants.

During their 2-2 draw in Hamburg on Wednesday, June 19, fans from both Croatia and Albania chanted “Kill, kill, kill the Serb.”

Serbia was also angered by a Kosovan TV journalist making an Albanian ‘eagle’ sign towards their fans during their game against England.

The journalist, Arlind Sadiku, has been banned from the ongoing tournament for misconduct.

Serbian FA General Secretary, Jovan Surbatovic said a formal complaint had been submitted, demanding action from UEFA.

He called the incidents scandalous and said they will push for sanctions, even if it means leaving the competition.

Surbatovic emphasized that Serbia’s fans behaved better and urged Serbian fans to remain respectful.

“First of all, I want to thank our fans for their support in the match against England and I hope we will beat Slovenia,” Surbatovic has been quoted as 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 UEFA to 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.

“We were punished for the cases of fishing and our fans behaved much better than the others. One fan was fined for racist abuse and we don’t want it to be attributed to others.

“We Serbs are gentlemen and we have an open heart, so I appeal to the fans to remain gentlemen,” he added.

The Albanian FA has already been fined nearly £32,000 by UEFA for poor fan behavior during their opening game against Italy, including throwing objects, lighting fireworks, a pitch invasion, and transmitting a provocative message.

The Croatian Football Federation claims they are unaware of any racist or discriminatory chants from their fans during the Albania game.