TIRANA (Reuters) – The man behind a drone stunt that triggered chaos at last year’s Euro 2016 soccer qualifier between Serbia and Albania was arrested on Wednesday on the eve of the teams’ second encounter, as hosts Albania mobilised 1,800 police officers to secure the politically-charged match.
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Long at odds over the independence of Serbia’s former Kosovo province, Albania and Serbia met on the soccer pitch in October last year amid hopes of a thaw in relations but the game was abandoned after a drone flew over the stadium carrying a flag depicting “Greater Albania” and triggered a brawl between players.
Just as Albanian fans were banned from the first game, supporters of Serbia are barred from attending the return match in the polluted central industrial city of Elbasan, with the exception of 70 Serbian students.
On Wednesday, Albanian police said they had arrested Ismail Morina, who said he had steered the drone over the Belgrade stadium last year.
Though never charged over the incident, Morina had been banned from Thursday’s tie but he posted a picture of a ticket on his Facebook page. Police said he was arrested for carrying a pistol and found in possession of 36 match tickets.
Albania were awarded three points from the first game and want to beat Serbia to keep alive hopes of a first European championship appearance next year in France. Bottom of Group I, the Serbians are already out of the race but were taking no chances ahead of Thursday’s game which has become a matter of national pride.
A spokesman for the Serbian side confirmed media reports that the team would take their own Serbian chef, to reduce the chances of sabotage.
“We are immensely motivated to show that we are better than our standings show,” said Serbian defender Nenad Tomovic. “Due to our bitter rivalry, we also want to make it difficult for them to qualify for Euro 2016.”
Albania are third in the group on 11 points, one behind Denmark and four behind leaders Portugal.
The Albanian team have appealed to fans to show respect for the national anthems and refrain from racist chants. Serbian supporters in the first game could be heard chanting “Kill the Shiptars”, using a derogatory term for Albanians.
Their animosity has roots in Kosovo, a majority-Albanian former province of Serbia that declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after NATO went to war to end the massacre and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serbian security forces trying to crush a two-year guerrilla insurgency.
Many of the players in the Albanian national squad were born in Kosovo, raised in the West after their families fled, and chose to play for Albania.
The flag flown over the pitch during the first game depicted an area of the Balkans claimed by Albanian nationalists and encompassing Albania, Kosovo and parts of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece.
Serbia’s government initially accused the brother of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of controlling the drone, an accusation derided by Tirana.
Albanian midfielder Taulant Xhaka, who tried to protect the banner in the first match after it was plucked from the sky by Serbian defender Stefan Mitrovic, said he wanted football to do the talking this time. “I don’t want to clench my fist but score a goal,” he said.
(Additional Reporting by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; Writing by Benet Koleka; Editing by Matt Robinson and Clare Fallon)
