UEFA sanctioned both Romania and Kosovo due to the stopping last Friday of the Nations League match between the two selections, after anti-Kosovar chants were sung from the stands in Bucharest. As the match ended 0-0, some of the supporters chanted “Serbia, Serbia!” », pushing the Kosovar players to leave the pitch before the authorities definitively stopped the game.
In its disciplinary decision communicated on Wednesday, UEFA judges Kosovo “responsible for the fact that the match could not be played in its entirety” and therefore inflicts a defeat by forfeit (3-0) which confirms Romania at the top of the table. group 2 of League C, with six victories in as many matches, and ensures promotion to League B.
The Kosovar federation will also have to pay a fine of 6,000 euros for “incorrect team conduct”, with five yellow cards – the same number of warnings as the Romanian players. Financially, the heaviest sanction nevertheless goes to the Romanian federation, fined 128,000 euros for a cascade of disciplinary infractions. In addition, Romania will play their next home match behind closed doors.
In support of its decision, UEFA cites the “racist behavior” of Romanian supporters, the transmission of “provocative political messages unsuitable for a sporting event”, the disturbances during the Kosovar anthem, the throwing of objects, the the lighting of smoke bombs, the use of lasers and the blocking of public passages.
Romania does not recognize the independence of Kosovo declared in 2008, just like Serbia, which has maintained so-called “parallel” institutions in certain areas of its former province, from schools to hospitals and pension funds. Around 100,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, according to recent estimates, a figure impossible to verify because the Serb populations boycotted the latest censuses.
