The Federations of Kosovo and Romania reacted strongly following the stopped match between the two nations in the Nations League this Saturday. The fault is passed from one camp to the other, while UEFA has opened a disciplinary procedure.
Kosovo and Romania faced off this Friday at the National Arena in Bucharest for the 5th day of the Nations League. This game had everything of a small final as the two nations were fighting for first place in their group, a position synonymous with promotion to the next level: in League B. This game was interrupted then definitively stopped following anti-Kosovar songs sung by the Romanian public. Edon Zhegrova and his team never agreed to return to the pitch.
One story, two versions
“The match was interrupted due to persistent racist and anti-Kosovo chants by Romanian supporters, who repeated racist and provocative behaviors which seriously undermine the spirit of fair play, the values of Football and constitute a total violation of the rules and principles of UEFA. Calls such as “Kosovo is Serbia” and “Serbia, Serbia”, whistles during the Kosovo national anthem, throwing projectiles into the stadium and other offensive and provocative actions were present throughout the match, creating an unacceptable and dangerous atmosphere for our players”thus quotes the Federation of Kosovo (FFK) through a press release. This also evokes
“threats and aggression”
by a Romanian official on a Kosovo player at the final whistle.
This version was obviously denied by the Romanian Federation: “The FRF expresses its deep disappointment with the behavior of the Kosovo delegation and opposing players during the Nations League match on Friday evening”she begins, estimating that
“the accusations coming from the visiting team are unfounded” and that “their actions were premeditated”. In his eyes,
“no racist chants and not once was the slogan “Kosovo is Serbia” heard” and judges that this slogan “cannot be qualified as racist and therefore cannot trigger a procedure” with UEFA.
The Romanian Federation, for which the draw (0-0) was a favorable result to maintain its position in the ranking, found “unfortunate that a football team would choose to leave the field and go to the locker room just two minutes before the final whistle, given that the result was not in their favor”she said, attacking her counterparts head-on. As a reminder, the independence of Kosovo has been recognized by more than a hundred countries, but not by Romania with which the conflict has persisted since 2008.
An open procedure
UEFA obviously broke its silence following this incident, indicating that disciplinary proceedings were open against the two teams. This is the direct consequence, according to article 55 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations, of a complaint filed.
“Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the Romanian Football Federation and the Football Federation of Kosovo in accordance with Article 55 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) following the UEFA Nations League match between Romania and Kosovo disputed on November 15, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania. Further information on this procedure will be communicated in due course”relays the BBC, British media.
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