– ‘Hatred’ –
Ties between Tirana and Belgrade have been strained over the issue of Kosovo, the mainly ethnic Albanian province which was formerly under Serbia’s control, and the Albanian minority in southern Serbia, who frequently demand more autonomy.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008, a status recognised by more than 100 countries, including the United States and most EU states.
Dusan Janjic, a Serbian political analyst, said: “The intensity of the hatred of both young Albanians and young Serbs (at the match) is amazing – it is, of course, a major political and international scandal.”
The premature end to the match was greeted with joy by 5,000 Kosovar Albanians who gathered to watch on TV in Kosovo’s capital Pristina, shouting “Greater Albania” and “victory”.
On Wednesday, hundreds of high-school students marched through Pristina chanting “Greater Albania”.
Ethnic Albanians also celebrated in Macedonia, honking car horns.
Serbia’s captain, Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, said he was dismayed by the incident.
“In the name of my team I can say that we wanted to continue the match… but the Albanian players said they weren’t in the physical or psychological state to continue,” he said.
The Serbian federation said the Albanian delegation had rejected all proposals to continue the match. Serbia demanded it be awarded a 3-0 victory.
NATO carried out a 78-day bombing campaign which led to Serb troops pulling out of Kosovo in 1999 and brought an end to the Serbian government’s repression of the ethnic Albanian population.
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