Partizan Belgrade said on February 23 that a small group of supporters of a soccer team from Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region have canceled their trip to the Serbian capital for the second leg of a Europa Conference League game.
"Eight supporters were supposed to come. We were ready to serve them as best we could, to offer them our hospitality, but they canceled their arrival yesterday. I don't know their reasons," Partizan spokeswoman Biljana Obradovic told reporters.
The first leg of the game between Sheriff Tiraspol and Partizan was moved from the capital of Russia-backed Transdniester region to Chisinau and held behind closed doors last week after 12 Serb supporters were prevented from entering the Republic of Moldova as rumors of a Russia-orchestrated coup swirled around the country, which is wedged between Ukraine and Romania.
The 12 were sent back to Belgrade on the first available flight after Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on February 13 that she had received documents from Ukrainian intelligence services showing Moscow was planning destabilizing actions in Moldova with the participation of citizens of Serbia, Russia, Belarus, and Montenegro.
Angered Serbian authorities demanded an explanation from the Moldovan leadership.
In a telephone conversation with his Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic denied any involvement of Serbian citizens in the alleged plot against Moldova.
While Belgrade has repeatedly condemned Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched a year ago, it has also refused to impose sanctions against Russia, a traditional economic and political ally.
Partizan coach Gordan Petric, whose team won the opening leg 1-0, said that his players encountered no problems in Moldova.
On February 14, shortly after the expulsion of the Partizan fans, a group of Montenegrin boxers was also barred from entering Moldova. The Montenegrin boxers from a club in the city of Budva were to attend an international competition in Chisinau.
"After several hours of waiting, our athletes' papers were taken and they were told to return on the first plane," the club wrote on its Facebook page.
Founded in 1997, Sheriff play in the Moldovan league despite being from the separatist Transdniester.
Mostly Russian-speaking Transdniester declared independence from then-Soviet Moldova in 1990 over fears the region would seek reunification with neighboring Romania.
Transdniester and Moldova fought a bloody war in 1992 that ended in a truce mediated and maintained by Russia and its troops which are still stationed in the region.
The territory is effectively run by the Sheriff conglomerate, a holding that controls businesses ranging from a cognac distillery to supermarkets, and a football club.