Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Serbian football association after its team hung a controversial flag depicting Kosovo in its dressing room ahead of their World Cup loss to Brazil.
The flag showed an outline of Kosovo filled with the flag of Serbia, with the words “no surrender”.
The voltages are run high between ethnic Serbs and the Albanian-led government in Kosovo, amid fears that violence could resume, 23 years after the Kosovo war.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia – an ally of Russia – does not recognize it as an independent country.
On Friday, the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) filed a complaint with Fifa, the world football governing body, for Serbia’s “chauvinistic rhetoric”.
In a statement, he said: “Such acts of chauvinism have no place in a sporting event, let alone inside the facilities where the biggest event in world football is taking place, therefore FFK, as as an equal member with all the other members of Fifa, calls on this institution to take sanction measures against actions that incite hatred between peoples and are contrary to human values”.
He added: “It is unacceptable that this act goes unreported, so we urge Fifa to strictly apply its rules and punish the Football Federation of Serbia for this aggressive action and contrary to the values that football conveys. “
Kosovo Sports Minister Hajrulla Ceku said she expected “concrete actions” from Fifa against Serbia’s “hateful, xenophobic and genocidal messages”.
The Fifa procedure was opened on the basis of article 11 of the Fifa disciplinary code, which is “offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play” and includes “the use of a sporting event for non-sporting events”, as well as article four of the 2022 World Cup regulations which refers to the responsibilities of the team during the tournament.
Kosovo was accepted to UEFA and Fifa in 2016, but according to UEFA rules, Serbia and Kosovo cannot face each other in the World Cup qualifiers due to tensions between the two sides. two countries.
Serbia were beaten 2-0 by Brazil in their World Cup opener in Qatar on Thursday, and will face Cameroon in their next Group G fixture on Monday.
Kosovo did not qualify for the World Cup.
