Church deplores Serbia football riot

Albania’s Catholic Church has condemned rioting at last week’s European Championship qualifying football match between Albania and Serbia in Belgrade, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

The game had to be called off because of nationalist clashes. Mgr Gjergj Meta, the Church’s Durres-based spokesman, said: “This signals there is still a long way to go on the path to reconciliation and peace in the Balkans. I hope [governing body of European football] UEFA and the two governments, as competent bodies, will find a way to heal souls and restore calm and serenity. Stirring up hatred and extremism doesn’t help the current situation.”

The priest was speaking after the 14 October qualifying match was abandoned amid clashes when a “Greater Albania” flag was flown over the Serbian capital’s Partizan stadium. He told Italy’s Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR) he had backed an appeal for calm by the Albanian team captain, Lorik Cana, and concurred with him that “we all have to live together in this region”.

Serbia’s Tanjug news agency said the flag, carried from a nearby Orthodox church rooftop by a small drone, had been grabbed by a Serbian player, Stefan Mitrovic, who fought off two Albanian players when they attempted to snatch it from him.

In his SIR interview, Mgr Meta said young Albanians and Serbs depended on “growing up in an area where peace and brotherhood are cultivated”, adding that he regretted the Pope’s peace appeals during a visit to Tirana on 21 September had not reached a wider audience.