Serbia

UEFA Awards Serbia Win, No Points For Disrupted Albania Match

A UEFA qualifying match for the Euro 2016 football tournament was suspended on October 14 after fighting broke out between players, team officials, and fans at Partizan stadium in Belgrade. Tensions were high before the match, which marked the Albanian squad's first trip to Belgrade since the 1960s and Serbian nerves still raw over the sovereignty of Kosovo, the majority ethnic Albanian region of the former Yugoslavia that declared independence from Serbia in 2008. No Albanian fans were allowed to attend the match, in an effort to ensure safety. The sports European governing body said it would investigate, and the incident could lead to serious repercussions.

UEFA has awarded Serbia a 3-0 win by forfeit over Albania after the two countries' Euro 2016 qualification match in Belgrade last week was abandoned due to violence.

However, UEFA also immediately deducted Serbia the winning three points for the October 14 game over crowd trouble.

Serbia was also ordered to play its next two home matches in a closed stadium with no fans, and both the Serbian and Albanian football federations were fined 100,000 Swiss Francs ($105,000).

The game in Belgrade ended after an Albanian nationalist banner was flown into the stadium by drone, triggering fighting among players and fans.

Albania's football federation says it will appeal UEFA's decision.

Albania coach Gianni De Biazi told reporters in Tirana "the UEFA commission's decision does not give justice."

UEFA has said its decisions can be appealed.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP