FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Serbian football federation after the team hung a controversial flag depicting Kosovo in their changing room before their loss to Brazil at the World Cup.
The Kosovo football federation filed a complaint with the governing body after photos showed a version of the Serbian flag with a map including Kosovo as part of the country and stamped with the slogan “there will be no surrender”.
Kosovo, a former Yugoslav province with an Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade refuses to recognise.
FIFA’s disciplinary code prohibits “offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play” and “using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature”.
Kosovo sports minister Hajrulla Ceku on Friday tweeted his anger at “disgraceful images from the Serbia locker room, displaying hateful, xenophobic and genocidal messages.”
