Albania forward Mirlind Daku banned for 2 games after chanting 'F**k Serbs' with a megaphone at Euro 2024
At the ongoing EURO 2024, UEFA has banned Albania forward Mirlind Daku for two games after he led supporters to chant, “f**k Macedonia and f**k Serbs" with a megaphone. This occurred after their 2-2 draw against Croatia, who were expected to beat them, on 19 June.
According to Telegraph, Albanian fans also yelled, “Kill, kill, kill the Serb." This has now led to punishments for both Daku and the Albanian Football Federation after Serbia FA general secretary Jovan Subartovic made threats. Subartovic told RTS that the country would simply leave EURO 2024 if punishments were not handed out, stating (via Telegraph):
“What happened is scandalous and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition. We will demand from UEFA to punish the federations of both selections. We do not want to participate in that, but if UEFA does not punish them, we will think how will we proceed."
Daku will not play against Spain in their upcoming match that could push them into the knockout stages of EURO 2024 if they can snag all three points. According to Telegraph, UEFA's decision to ban Daku was based on him:
“failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”
The Albanian Football Federation will also pay £40,000 in fines after their fans made those statements. They were also liable for the fans invading the pitch and lighting fireworks.
UEFA to take stringent measures to limit pitch invasions after Portugal debacle at EURO 2024
While Portugal enjoyed a 3-0 win over Turkey, there were moments of concern as six people invaded the pitch separately to take pictures with Cristiano Ronaldo. The match often had to be paused as a number of invaders rushed on and managed to get their pictures taken.
This led to UEFA taking stringent security measures for the rest of the tournament. A statement from the organization said (via GOAL):
"Safety and security in the stadium, on the pitch and at team facilities are the ultimate priority for UEFA, DFB and EURO 2024 GmbH. To this end, additional safety measures will be deployed in the stadiums to further meet the requirements of the tournament, and to prevent such incidents.
"For reasons of security, we cannot comment further on specific measures. As a reminder, any incursion onto the pitch constitutes a breach of the stadium rules and will result in expulsion from the stadium, a ban from all tournament matches and the filing of a formal criminal complaint for trespass."
The players will hope that the rest of EURO 2024 will continue without too many problems relating to their security.