The Serbian Football Federation is to ask UEFA [Union of European Football Associations] for a replay of its Euro 2012 qualifier match against Italy following the ending of the match after six minutes last Tuesday.
The sporting world watched in horror as riots broke out in the stands where Serbian fans were seated and flares and fireworks were thrown towards the Italian stands. The start of the match had already been delayed by 45 minutes because of violence outside the Genoa stadium and there had been incidents during the Serbian players’ coach transfer to the city.
The Serbian Ambassador to Italy, Sanda Rastovic-Ivic, has said that she was appalled by the violence and has formally apologised to Italy. However, the president of the Serbian Football Federation, Tomislav Karadzic, has said that Serbia warned Italy about possible violence by its team’s supporters. Both the Italian Interior Ministry and the Italian Football Federation deny having received these warnings.
The expected punishment from UEFA would be the award of a 3 – 0 victory to Italy and / or an order to Serbia to play a number of international matches behind closed doors. It would be most unusual if a replay were granted. It is possible that the Italian Football Federation will be punished too, for, according to UEFA rules, it has an obligation to guarantee the safety of supporters and players and to see that matches go ahead. UEFA will announce its decision on 28th October.
There have been unconfirmed reports that the Serbian fans were paid to cause trouble by two Serbian criminal organisations but this morning some Serbian papers are reporting that the Mafia was involved.
During the violence 17 football supporters were arrested, 16 of whom were Serbian, and two carabinieri were injured.
Do you think there should be a replay?
