The match between Romania and Kosovo's League of Nations draw did not end after the visitors' players left the field in the final seconds to chants of "Serbia, Serbia!" from the stands. The scandal spread to the mixing zone, where people from the Kosovo delegation ran into Romanian journalists.
At the heart of the ugly scenes was the visitors' captain Amir Rahmani. It was he who signaled his teammates to go back to the dressing room after the chants of some of the Romanian supporters. While the coach of our northern neighbors, Mircea Lucescu, was preparing to speak to the media, a person from the Kosovo headquarters began to push and insult one of the local journalists. This prompted a backlash from reporters. The two sides were torn apart, and the shocked Lucescu repeated several times “Shame on you!”, addressing the Kosovars.
Rahmani was also very nervous. Asked why he left the field, he said: “I don't want to repeat myself. I told the referee to listen to what they were chanting from the stands, but he didn't do anything, so I explained to him that we weren't going to finish the game. The fans started to shout louder and louder and we decided not to go back. We represent people who have had a difficult past. Kosovo is Kosovo and let everyone know it!”.
As the Kosovars left the field, the crowd booed them, and some of the players responded. In the Romanian media, the gesture of the defender of CSKA - Sofia Lumbard Delova is the most commented on. He made a gesture with his hands imitating the double-headed eagle that appears on the flag of Albania. Arianet Muric and also annoyed the Romanian fans.
🇽🇰 Dellova, Muric, Rexhbecaj to Romania’s ultras 🙂#Kosovo #Romania #Albania pic.twitter.com/ uLrosJJhOG
— AT (@AlbanianTimes) November 15, 2024
Before the ugly scenes, the score was 0-0, which meant Romania would finish top of the group ahead of Kosovo and secure promotion to Division B. The situation heated up after the shouts of "Serbia, Serbia!". As is known, Romania is one of the five European Union countries that have not recognized Kosovo as an independent country. The visiting captain Rahmani pulled away from Denis Alibek and grabbed him by the neck. The game should have been restarted with a direct free kick in favor of the Romanians, but then a seat flew from the stands, further unnerving the Kosovars. Rahmani urged his team-mates to leave the field and they followed him, although coach Franco Foda was against it.
“We played football, and good football. At the end of the game the respect was gone and that's why we left. Later we discussed with the players whether to return to the field, but the situation had not changed and we decided not to play the match. I hope that UEFA will take measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again," commented Foda.
An official from the Football Federation of Kosovo later said that this is the second time the team has been the victim of racist chants at this stadium.
The media in Romania are confident that their team will get a 3-0 home win. Mircea Lucescu said that the Kosovars had previously decided to leave the field if they could not win.