UEFA punishes Serbia for fan misconduct including trying to burn Albania flag

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA punished Serbia’s soccer federation for racist acts by fans at two Nations League games, including trying to burn an Albania flag in Switzerland.

The decision was announced Friday, hours before Serbia and Albania were drawn by FIFA into the same qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup — meaning they will play each other twice, home and away.

On Monday, UEFA’s executive committee is set to confirm Serbia and Albania as co-hosts of the Under-21 European Championship in 2027.

At a Switzerland-Serbia game last month, visiting fans were filmed trying to set light to an Albania flag. The Swiss team, including captain Granit Xhaka, typically fields players with family ties to Albania or Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

UEFA said its disciplinary committee charged the Serbian federation for “racist and/or discriminatory behavior” in Switzerland on Nov. 15 and at home to Denmark three days later, plus other incidents including fans showing an “illicit banner.”

Serbia’s Nemanja Maksimovic, center, and Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka in action during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Switzerland and Serbia at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

Serbia’s federation was banned from selling tickets for the team’s next two away games in UEFA competitions, and must close parts of the stadium at two home games.

The first parts of the sanctions will apply in March when Serbia faces Austria in a two-leg Nations League promotion playoff.

UEFA also imposed fines totaling 173,000 euros ($181,000) with 90,000 euros ($94,000) of that for the discrimination.

Serbia’s soccer body has been charged by UEFA and FIFA for repeated fan misconduct including at Euro 2024 in Germany and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Serbia-Albania games in World Cup qualifying next year will be the first since they met in a Euro 2016 qualifying group. The game in Belgrade in October 2014 was abandoned in chaos after a fan outside the stadium flew a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist banner over the field.