

Fighting Racism with Drones - innovat
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/14/serbia-albania-euro-2016-flag-halted?1

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innovat
Much of the international media coverage of the violence in the Partizan
Belgrade stadium has focused on the stunt of a drone flying an Albanian
banner, the ensuing brawl and pitch invasion by angry Serb fans. There were
additional elements to the violence that are either not being reported by
international media or being under-reported. Here are some of them:

1\. Albanian fans were not allowed to attend the match. Serb authorities said
they would arrest anyone who showed any symbol of the visiting team in the
stadium.

2\. The Serb crowd chanted, “Ubij, Ubij Siptar” – “Kill, Kill the Albanians,”
throughout the 40 minutes the game was played.

3\. The stadium was filled with Serb nationalistic political banners, like
“Kosovo is Serbia” and other slogans relating to Bosnia and Croatia. The Serb
fans loudly booed the Albanian national anthem.

4\. Hard objects and fireworks were thrown on Albanian players well before the
drone started flying.

5\. More than half of Albania’s national team has roots in Kosovo, which split
from Serbia in the late 90s in a violent conflict that ended through a NATO
intervention 15 years go. The alliance’s flag was also burned in Belgrade last
night. (Albania has been a NATO member since 2009. Serbia is officially EU-
minded, but also Russia-friendly.)

6\. Despite the harsh political atmosphere in the stadium, the Albanian
national team went to play football, and it managed to overcome a shaky first
few minutes, moving to gain the upper hand in the field when the interruption
happened.

