Political scandal in the Kosovo party! The players had to be removed from the field due to provocation
Mikhail Rozhdestvensky September 13, 2023, 00:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Romanian fans almost interrupted the Euro qualifier with two banners.
The qualifications for Euro 2024 offer a fantastic density of matches. And where there are many games, there is a high probability of various incidents. The main scandal of the day on Tuesday, September 12, occurred in the match between Romania and Kosovo.
The match immediately became heated: in the first 15 minutes the teams received two yellow cards. And in the 18th minute the most interesting thing happened. Romanian fans organized a political demonstration and hung two banners with provocative content. First: “Kosovo is Serbia.” Second: “Bessarabia is Romania.” At the same time, they accompanied the gesture with appropriate slogans and a fire show, launching pyrotechnics across the field.
Fans at the Romania – Kosovo match
Photo: Razvan Pasarica/IMAGO/TASS
Political actions in matches under UEFA auspices are not welcome, but context remains important. The history of Kosovo is widely known. Serbia considers this territory its own, although many states recognize the independence of Kosovo and, in fact, Kosovo is not subordinate to the Serbs. For Serbia and the countries supportive of it, Kosovo is an autonomous region. For the rest, a full state.
Things are not easy in Bessarabia either. In the first half of the 20th century, that is, from the end of the First World War until 1940, this territory, located between the Black Sea and the Danube, was part of Romania. In addition, Bessarabia was distributed between the Moldavian and Ukrainian SSRs. Now the territory is distributed between Moldova and Ukraine, but, as you understand, not everyone in Romania is happy with this.
Let’s go back to the scandal. Under such conditions, the referee had to stop the match and send the players of both teams to the locker rooms. The pause lasted almost an hour, but by some miracle the situation returned to normal. Order was restored and the game continued when in parallel matches the final whistle was approaching.
Under such conditions, the referee had to stop the match and send the players of both teams to the locker rooms.
Photo: Razvan Pasarica/IMAGO/TASS
By the way, for Romania this is not the first scandal of this type. The local association has been repeatedly sanctioned by UEFA due to provocations by fans. Similar incidents occurred in youth matches with Ukraine, as well as with Georgia at the recent Euro Cup. So the problem is deep and has not yet been resolved.
There are many ethnic Kosovars on the Swiss team:
The Kosovars of the Swiss team are the main focus of scandals. Today they have a special game.
