Albania awarded Serbia victory by Court of Arbitration for Sport

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its decisions today in two appeal arbitration procedures arising from the UEFA European Championship qualifying Group I match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade on 14 October 2014 (the Match).

Thousands of Albanian fans gathered to celebrate late Friday at Mother Teresa Square in downtown Tirana, the capital, where a big screen and loudspeakers broadcast national songs.

Following the abandoned match in Serbian capital Belgrade – which saw a drone fly a pro-Albanian flag above the pitch, flares thrown and Serbian fans attack Albanian players before either team had scored – Serbia was awarded a 3-0 victory by UEFA but denied points for the game.

The European Championship qualification match between Serbia and Albania was stopped by the referee when a drone with a political banner flew into the stadium.

The CAS went on to find, in line with UEFA, that the FAA was responsible for the drone operated during the match, carrying a banner depicting Albanian nationalistic and patriotic symbols, and confirmed the fine of Euro 100,000 imposed on the FAA.

Albania has now 10 points and ranks second, while Serbia is the last in the group with -2 points.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama responded triumphantly to the announcement on Facebook: “That is European justice!”

The Football Association of Albania (FAA) and the Football Association of Serbia (FAS) filed appeals at the CAS against decisions issued by UEFA Appeals Body in which both associations were disciplined further to incidents which occurred during the Match.

Serbia has a point, as does Armenia, while Portugal leads the group.

“Those who caused the incident have been awarded, while the victim has been punished”, Vucic said. “3 points for the Red-and-Black National Team in Belgrade!!!”

“Lausanne Court decision is an embarrassment for justice, judiciary and an insult to all normal people”, according to Vucic’s tweet.

Albania next play Denmark in Copenhagen in September, while Serbia will entertain Armenia behind closed doors in Novi Sad.

CAS blamed the abandonment on Serbian “security lapses” and “acts of violence exerted on the Albanian players by the Serbian fans and at least one security steward”.

The Balkan countries are scheduled for a return match in Albania on October 8. “It is now much harder to make it to Euro 2016 and that is unfortunate”. The Denmark coach Morten Olsen told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet: “To me it is completely incomprehensible”.