The Romanian Football Federation announced today that it will appeal the penalty imposed by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) after the match against so-called Kosovo in the Nations League.
“The Romanian Football Federation announces that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision made by UEFA following the incidents that occurred during the Romania-Kosovo match, played on November 15, 2024, in Bucharest. The match did not finish on the field, after the visiting team refused to continue playing with less than two minutes remaining in stoppage time. The referee had to blow the final whistle after waiting for more than an hour, during which only the Romanian team remained on the field,” reads the Romanian Football Federation website.
The players of so-called Kosovo left the field in the fifth minute of stoppage time of the second half of the match against Romania with the score at 0-0, after the home fans chanted “Kosovo is Serbia” and “Serbia, Serbia”.
The disciplinary committee decided to award the match 3-0 to Romania, as the players of the so-called Kosovo team left the field and were responsible for the match not being played to the end.
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The Romanian Football Federation was fined €50,000 and banned from having fans at one match due to “racist or discriminatory behavior of fans”, displaying provocative political slogans, throwing objects onto the field, and setting off flares. The Federation was also punished because the fans used lasers, blocked the passages, and behaved inappropriately during the playing of the anthems. On the other hand, the Football Federation of so-called Kosovo was fined €6,000 for the team’s misconduct.
The Romanian Football Federation believes that the sanctions imposed by UEFA are unjustified and that they divert attention from the lack of measures against the Football Federation of so-called Kosovo.
“Kosovo has violated the most important principle in football, which is that the match should be played on the field. However, the Kosovo team was not sanctioned. Instead, we received some fines and sanctions that we consider excessive,” said the president of the Romanian Football Federation, Razvan Burleanu.
“The Romanian Football Federation emphasizes that Romanian fans behaved civilly during the match and were provoked, and that there is more evidence to that effect. Through this approach, the Federation wants to protect the image of Romanian football and fight for the respect of fair play principles,” the Federation’s website adds.
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Source: Kurir, Photo: Profimedia