UEFA today handed Albanian footballer Mirlind Daka a two-game ban for shouting at Serbs and Macedonians after the Euro 2024 second round game between Albania and Croatia.
Immediately after Wednesday’s game in Hamburg, Daku took up a megaphone and chanted at Albania’s neighbors, which the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission, the body that oversees European football, now considers “unacceptable and contrary to fundamental values.” sportsmanship and mutual respect.”
The game of the second day of Group B ended in a draw with a score of 2:2, and the Albanians scored the second goal at the end of the match at 90+5 minutes. With this result, which follows a narrow defeat to Italy, Albania will qualify if they beat Spain on Monday, the first game in which Daku, a Rubin Kazan player, will not feature.
Daku had already publicly apologized for the “damage caused” via social media, but this did not stop UEFA, which was under pressure from the federations of the affected countries.
“In these moments, emotions are at a different level, only on the field you can understand, it’s difficult to describe the feeling of playing for this team. I feel like I offended someone after the game with Croatia, the effect of the game was I feel like I’m following the work with the group for our dream,” Daku wrote.
UEFA also imposed fines of €47,500 on Albania and €28,000 on Croatia for chants during the game and for the use and throwing of pyrotechnic devices.