How the Balkans have turned the Euro Cup into the ‘Grand Prix’ of insults

Qualify for the Euro 2024 It has been a milestone for many of the teams that have played in Germany this summer. For most fans, it is a source of national pride. The problem comes when this national pride collides with that of your neighbouring country. And when both you and your neighbour qualify, the result is exactly the same. brawl which have been assembled by the national teams of some Balkan countries in this year’s edition.

Now that all the teams from this corner of Europe are eliminated – all except Slovenia, whose fans have not proven to be very combative politically – it is necessary to take stock of this year’s inter-Balkan spectacle. Why in 2024, almost three decades after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, have quarrels broken out between its former republics? The answer is very simple: this was the first time in which Serbia, Albania and Croatia They participate at the same time in the final of the competition.

Although neither Greece, nor North Macedonia nor Kosovo have qualified this year, the latter, an Albanian-majority republic that became independent from Serbia in 2008, has aroused real passions. In the Serbia-England match on June 16, which ended in an English victory, the Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku He made the double-headed eagle gesture – the national symbol of Albania and claimed by Kosovo Albanians – to Serbian fans during a live broadcast. UEFA banned Sadiku from continuing to cover the Euros and withdrew his accreditation.

The big battle took place in the Croatia-Albania game on June 19, which ended in a 2-2 draw in the group stages. The irony is that the clashes did not take place between the supporters of the teams that played: Croatian and Albanian fans united in the Hamburg stadium to chant in unison a resounding “Let’s go!” “Kill the Serbs”a popular cry in different Balkan societies during the horrors of the wars of the 1990s.

Although the Belgrade fans contributed fuel to the fire, with maps that included Kosovo in their national territory and irredentist slogans such as “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”, the Croatia-Albania chants were enough for the Serbian team to threaten to leave the tournament. UEFA then fined the Albanian football federation, which strongly urged fans to behave and not tarnish their team’s second appearance.

But the fans of the country of the black eagle did not only direct their rhymes at the Serbs. At the end of the match against Croatia, the Albanian striker Mirlind Daku He got carried away and used a microphone to shout: “Whore Macedonia [del Norte]!”The roar cost Daku a ban for the next two matches, one of them being the Albania-Spain match that ended with Tirana’s elimination last Monday. The Russian team FC Rubin Kazan, where he plays, announced in an official statement that “disciplinary and financial sanctions” will be applied to Daku.

Albania has become the most fined country at Euro 2024, with 171,375 euros in penalties for incidents in just three matches. Before the match against Italy on 15 July, which the Blues won by two goals to one, a group of Albanian fans ironically broke kilos of spaghetti in front of the fans. italian fans on the streets of Dortmund. For the match against Spain alone, UEFA fined Tirana 86,500 euros for the actions of its fans: 25,000 for broadcasting messages inappropriate for a sporting event, 45,000 for throwing objects, 8,500 for lighting fireworks and 8,000 for the appearance of rioters on the pitch.

Albania is followed by Croatia. Nikola Kovacic, a 47-year-old Croatian fan who followed his team from Germany with his children, declares: “This is a shame for us in the year 2024, when we want to show our best face to the world, that we are modern societies that are part of the international family. They weren’t even born during all these problems. I get embarrassed when I hear some of the songs they sing. I cover my children’s ears. “We are better than this,” he told Reuters.

Interethnic feuds in the Balkans have long plagued football, ever since high-profile riots between supporters of the Dynamo Zagreb and the Red Star of Belgrade Injuring dozens of people and, according to some witnesses, being one of the triggers of the war. Among countless other incidents, a Euro 2016 qualifying match between Serbia and Albania was suspended after a drone flew overhead with a flag showing a Greater Albania irredentist, which triggered a brawl between players.

At the 2018 World Cup, the Swiss Granite Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiriboth with Albanian and Kosovar roots, were fined for celebrating their goals by imitating eagles. And at Euro 2020, Austrian striker Marko Arnautovicof Serbian roots, was banned for one match after a provocative goal celebration against North Macedonia.