The acting Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Kosovo, Hajrullah \u00c7eku, condemned on Thursday the removal of Kosovo\u2019s flag from the UEFA Congress in Belgrade, calling it a \u201cshameful and unacceptable act.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post late Thursday, \u00c7eku stated that Kosovo expects clarifications from UEFA and \u201ceffective actions to address the responsibility for this violation of their internal rules and this attack on the state of Kosovo.\u201d<\/p>\n
A dispute broke out between the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) and the Football Federation of Serbia (FFS) over the presence of Kosovo\u2019s flag at the 49th UEFA Congress held in the Serbian capital.<\/p>\n
While the Serbian Federation claimed it had removed Kosovo\u2019s flag from the congress venue, blaming UEFA for placing it there, the Kosovar Federation insisted that the flag remained present until the end of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Kosovo has been a full member of UEFA since 2016, but Serbia continues to oppose its presence in European football’s governing body, just as it refuses to recognize Kosovo\u2019s independence, declared in 2008.<\/p>\n
Minister \u00c7eku described the removal of national symbols as a \u201cdirect attack on the state integrity of Kosovo,\u201d and said it \u201cmust not go without a proper international response.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect clarifications from UEFA and effective actions to address the responsibility for this violation of their internal rules and this attack on the state of Kosovo,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u00c7eku also urged UEFA and FIFA to avoid hosting sports events in Serbia as long as the Serbian government continues its hostile stance toward Kosovo\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Serbian state has not changed. It is the same one that committed massacres and genocide just a few decades ago. Back then, as now, it has not spared even sports,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The acting Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Kosovo, Hajrullah \u00c7eku, condemned on Thursday the removal of Kosovo\u2019s flag from the UEFA Congress in Belgrade, calling it a \u201cshameful and unacceptable act.\u201d In a Facebook post late Thursday, \u00c7eku stated that Kosovo expects clarifications from UEFA and \u201ceffective actions to address the responsibility for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":77664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[4566],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n