Italy vs. Serbia suspended after fan violence
Fans throw flares onto the pitch
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OCTOBER 12 2010 03:54 PM EDT
Serbia's European Championship qualifier at Italy was called off after seven minutes of play Tuesday night due to visiting fans throwing flares onto the field and lighting fireworks.
Serbia fans also clashed with police earlier in the day and delayed the start of the match for 45 minutes. Then when the game at Stadio Luigi Ferraris finally began, more flares and fireworks were thrown onto the field, and referee Craig Thomson of Scotland stopped the match.
Italy likely will be awarded a 3-0 forfeit victory by the Union of European Football Associations.
“The game has been called off definitively by the referee, who is the only delegate who can decide on the pitch,” Italian soccer federation general secretary Antonello Valentini told RAI television. “The referee felt that the players' security couldn't be assured. Now it's up to UEFA and their disciplinary procedures.”
Serbia lost 3-1 at home to Estonia on Friday. That match marked the debut of new coach Vladimir Petrovic, hired when Radomir Antic was fired following a 1-1 draw at home with Slovenia last month. The team has been in turmoil following its first-round elimination at the World Cup.
Before the scheduled kickoff, a few fans with ski masks that covered their faces except for their eyes climbed up onto a partition, took out tools and began cutting through a mesh fence. Glass partitions were broken.
One fan with his head covered burned what appeared to be an Albanian flag.
Police dressed in riot gear confronted the fans and eventually the teams came back out. Serbia fans whistled and booed throughout their national anthem, but the game began.
Earlier in the day, Serbia's usual starting goalkeeper, Vladimir Stojkovic, was hit by a flare thrown toward the team bus and brought to a hospital, according to the ANSA news agency.
Stojkovic's replacement, Zeljko Brkic, was nearly hit by one of the flares thrown onto the field when the game started.
Clashes continued outside the stadium after the match was called off, according to local reports.
At one point during the delay, Serbia players walked over to their fans ironically.
“We didn't applaud, we calmed down the fans,” Serbia captain Dejan Stankovic told RAI.
The match was to be played in memory of four Italian soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Saturday. Several fan banners around the stadium paid tribute to the soldiers and Italy wore black armbands.
