“Aggressive action by Serbia”
FIFA investigates nationalist flag
11/26/2022, 9:30 p.m
The Kosovar Football Association calls on FIFA to investigate Serbia – and the world association reacts. A nationalist flag hangs in the Serbian dressing room at the World Cup in Qatar.
At the World Cup in Qatar there is trouble over a nationalist flag that was hung and photographed in the Serbian team’s dressing room. Because the outlines of Kosovo can also be seen under the Serbian national colors, the World Football Association initiated investigations.
The Kosovan association FFK had previously asked FIFA to sanction the Serbs. “FFK strongly condemns Serbia’s aggressive actions against the Republic of Kosovo at the 2022 World Cup,” the association tweeted. “The World Cup is an event of joy and unity, it should send messages of hope and peace, not messages of hate. We call on FIFA to take action against such actions.”
The Republic of Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. A majority of all states also recognize this status. However, the Serbs continue to regard Kosovo as part of their country. The flag with the inscription “Never give up” was therefore also shown by several Serbian fans in the stadium during the first World Cup match against Brazil (0:2).
The photo was apparently taken in the dressing room before the Brazil game. No player can be seen on it, but the flag hangs over the shirts and lockers of defender Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen) and midfielder Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK Saloniki). A Werder representative told the Deichstube multimedia portal that Veljkovic only found out about the photo after the game. When the Serbian players came back into the dressing room, there was no longer a flag hanging there.