These guys sure do love each other don't they...
Yesterday, a provocation staged by the brother of the Albanian prime minister resulted in the Euro qualification match between Serbia and Albania getting interrupted for 43 minutes due to the ensuing brawl between players from both teams and clashes among the crowds of the two countries.
Of course we all know where this is coming from. "There is bad blood" between Albanians and Serbians is probably the grandest understatement possible one could come up with in this case.
We often hear that sports is a domain that's not to be polititicized (as Coubertain once said), but let's face it: it's an extension of society, and naturally it would tend to reflect the processes and phenomena happening in same society (or two societies, in cases like these). We've all witnessed various major international sports events being used as a ground for political face-slapping, fussing and overall, flipping the finger between rivals. Boycotting the Sochi Olympics as a means to push a certain agenda, be it just or not, one of the most recent examples, but also the exchange of boycotts of Olympics during the Cold War coming to mind.
Racism is another issue that's been a huge thorn in the ass of international association football for years (among other sports, btw), despite all the increasingly draconian measures that are being taken against it. I'm afraid that problem won't be going away any time soon, especially in countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, where racism is in fact a very prevalent factor in society. A few drastic punishments for international or club teams, albeit being a step in the right direction, won't be able to remove it - simply because they're merely dealing with the symptom.
As for the whole Albania/Serbia debacle, I expect both teams to be severely punished now. Serbia, for failing to provide sufficient security during and around the match; and Albania, for triggering and actively participating in the shitstorm. I also expect some officials on both sides to toss blame back and forth between themselves - we've all watched that movie before.
Of course we all know where this is coming from. "There is bad blood" between Albanians and Serbians is probably the grandest understatement possible one could come up with in this case.
We often hear that sports is a domain that's not to be polititicized (as Coubertain once said), but let's face it: it's an extension of society, and naturally it would tend to reflect the processes and phenomena happening in same society (or two societies, in cases like these). We've all witnessed various major international sports events being used as a ground for political face-slapping, fussing and overall, flipping the finger between rivals. Boycotting the Sochi Olympics as a means to push a certain agenda, be it just or not, one of the most recent examples, but also the exchange of boycotts of Olympics during the Cold War coming to mind.
Racism is another issue that's been a huge thorn in the ass of international association football for years (among other sports, btw), despite all the increasingly draconian measures that are being taken against it. I'm afraid that problem won't be going away any time soon, especially in countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, where racism is in fact a very prevalent factor in society. A few drastic punishments for international or club teams, albeit being a step in the right direction, won't be able to remove it - simply because they're merely dealing with the symptom.
As for the whole Albania/Serbia debacle, I expect both teams to be severely punished now. Serbia, for failing to provide sufficient security during and around the match; and Albania, for triggering and actively participating in the shitstorm. I also expect some officials on both sides to toss blame back and forth between themselves - we've all watched that movie before.