Serbian authorities have arrested an Albanian citizen on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of "inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance."
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic announced that members of the Ministry of Interior in Prokuplje, in cooperation with Serbian Customs, have arrested DP (1972) from Albania.
According to the official announcement, the arrested person has been taken into custody for 48 hours, while the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Prokuplje is expected to file an indictment against him.
The Serbian Ministry's statement states that, during a search of a van at the Merdara border crossing, which connects Kosovo with Serbia, the Police found five bags of materials bearing the symbols of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
In them, according to Serbian authorities, "22 T-shirts, 244 flags, 86 hats with the inscription KLA, 65 sweaters with the image of Adem Jashari and Agim Ramadani, 58 scarves with the coat of arms of Albania and 92 hats" with the KLA emblem were found.
"It is suspected that these were planned to be used and exhibited at the match to be held in Leskovac between the football teams of Serbia and Albania," the announcement states.
The Serbia-Albania match will take place on October 11 in Leskovac, starting at 20:45, as part of Group K for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which also includes Latvia, Andorra and England.
The first meeting between the two national teams, held in June at the “National Arena” in Tirana, ended goalless. Currently, Albania ranks second with 8 points, while Serbia follows in third place with 7 points.
The Football Federation of Serbia has announced that for security reasons, tickets for this match will not be on public sale, but will be distributed only through official channels of the football community, schools, clubs and sponsors.
The decision was justified by the "bad experience" of 2014, when the match between the two teams in Belgrade was interrupted after a drone appeared above the Partizan stadium with the inscription "Autochthonous" on a map of "Greater Albania", causing clashes between players and fans.
