The coach of the Kosovo men’s national soccer team has given his backing to his players after they left the field during a recent game in Bucharest against Romania.
The players walked off the field in extra time on November 15 amid chants from home fans of "Serbia," from which Kosovo seceded back in 2008.
The Kosovo team walked off for the same reason during a match between the two teams in September 2023 but eventually returned.
UEFA, European soccer's governing body, is due to issue a ruling on the matter. Romania could be declared 3-0 winners of the Nations League match. It was 0-0 at the time the match was abandoned.
Franco Foda, Kosovo's manager, said in comments published on November 18 that any UEFA ruling was secondary to backing his players.
"It's all about our message that this kind of thing has no place in the stadium. It's about respectful cooperation, that's more important than the result," Foda told the German soccer magazine Kicker.
Kosovo's head coach Franco Foda
He said Romanian players tried to calm down the fans but that the atmosphere did not change and there were also no official announcements in the stadium.
"As a German, I am the coach in Kosovo and I accept the culture. I understand them and my players, so I am 100 percent behind this decision," Foda said.
"The most important thing is to treat each other with respect. And that respect was no longer there after, what I was told, was chanted there."
The Kosovar players headed for the dressing room in the 92nd minute with the game heading for a goalless draw after some spectators chanted, "Serbia! Serbia!" during a scuffle between Kosovo captain Amir Rrahmani and Romanian striker Denis Alibec.
The Football Federation of Kosovo on November 16 warned that it will submit a complaint to UEFA for what it said were "provocations and racist behavior" of Romanian fans during the match.
Rrahmani said that Romanian fans chanted, "Serbia, Serbia," and, "Kosovo is Serbia," and that he had informed Danish referee Morten Krogh "at least three times" that his team would leave the field.
The Romanian team remained on the pitch for about an hour before the referee decided to abandon the match after the Kosovar players refused to return.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognized by more than 100 countries, but not Romania and other four EU states -- Spain, Cyprus, Greece, and Slovakia.
The Romanian Gendarmerie said 13 spectators were fined after the game and another nine were banned from entering a sports competition for a period of up to one year.
The game is not the first one between the two teams to be marred by incidents.
During a previous game in Bucharest in September 2023, Romanian fans shouted chants at Kosovo players and unfurled a huge banner with the inscription "Kosovo is Serbia" in Romanian and Serbian.
The game was interrupted for 50 minutes, the Romanian Football Federation was fined by UEFA, and Romania played the next match with only children under 14 allowed in the stands.
Kosovar fans responded in kind during the first leg of the League of Nations played in Pristina this fall, which was won by Romania 3-0. They whistled during the Romanian anthem, chanted racist slogans, and even invaded the pitch. The incidents led to the Kosovar Federation also being fined by UEFA.
UEFA said it would communicate "further information in due course."