Serbia threatens to quit Euro 2024 over alleged 'Kill the Serbs' chants

Serbia has threatened to withdraw from Euro 2024 if alleged offensive chants by Albanian and Croatian fans go unpunished.

Supporters of Croatia and Albania were accused of singing anti-Serb songs, including the words “Kill the Serbs” during the teams' 2-2 draw in Hamburg.

The Serbian Football Federation released a statement immediately and the organization's general secretary, Jovan Surbatovic, said: “What happened is scandalous and we will demand sanctions from UEFA, even at the cost of stopping the competition.

“We will ask UEFA to sanction the federations of the two selections. We don't want to be part of this, but if UEFA doesn't punish them, we will think about how we proceed.

“We have been punished for isolated cases and our fans behave much better than others.”

UEFA announced that the Serbian FA itself had been fined €14,500 after two rules were broken in their own defeat to England. They were penalized 4,500 euros for “throwing objects” by supporters and a further 10,000 euros for “transmitting a provocative message not suited to a sporting event”.

Serbian fans unfurled a national flag which included the territory of Kosovo, its former republic, within Serbian borders and Kosovar officials duly alerted UEFA to the flags, chants and banners which they claimed contained ” political, chauvinistic and racist messages” against their country, leading to a fine.

Referring to the banners, Surbatovic said: “A fan was punished for racist insults and we don't want this to be attributed to others.

“We Serbians are gentlemen and we have open hearts, so I call on the fans to remain gentlemen.”

The build-up to Serbia's 1-0 defeat to England was also affected by clashes between fans in Gelsenkirchen when videos circulated on social media of men throwing chairs at each other.

Meanwhile, UEFA withdrew tournament accreditation from a Kosovar journalist after he aimed an Albanian “eagle” sign at Serbian fans during the defeat against England.