Video Shows Fans Brawling on Field With Albanian and Serbian Soccer Teams

A heavy cloud hung over a historic soccer match played between Albania and Serbia on Tuesday in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. No Albanian soccer team had set foot inside a Belgrade stadium since 1967, and to avert any clashes authorities banned Albanian supporters from attending Tuesday's contest.

But even this safeguard was not enough to ensure a peaceful game. In the 41st minute, English referee Martin Atkinson blew the final whistle after a remote-controlled drone carrying a flag bearing a map of a "Greater Albania" flew over the pitch. "Greater Albania" is an inflammatory nationalist concept that involves consolidating all the Balkan territories into a single Albanian homeland, including certain parts of Serbia.

Serbian defender Aleksandar Mitrovic managed to grab the flag, prompting Albanian players to wrestle it away from him, which in turn caused a brawl on the field. Flares and other projectiles were thrown from the stands, where Serbian supporters chanted, "Kill! Kill! Kill the Albanians!"

Both teams quickly retreated to the locker rooms, ducking to avoid flying objects and attacks by fans that charged onto the field.

Ermir Lenjani of — Xhemajl Rexha (@xhemajl_rexha)October 15, 2014

"The whole atmosphere before the game was that Serbia and Albania was more politically sensitive than any other game," Serbian journalist Milos Saranovic told the BBC. "I cannot remember for years so many police at the stadium. Everything looked like a situation that is not normal."

Serbia and Albania maintain a fraught diplomatic relationship, leftover from years of war and ethnic conflict that ravaged the region in the '90s. In 1999, NATO undertook a campaign of airstrikes against Serbia, in part to end Serbian repression against Albanian civilians. That conflict ended in 2008, when Kosovo, a formerly Serbian territory largely populated by Albanians, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.

Four players on the Albanian team were born in Kosovo: goalkeepers Lorik Cana and Etrit Berisha, and midfielders Burim Kukeli and Ermir Lenjani. Since the UN does not officially recognize Kosovo as a state, the country can't join FIFA or UEFA, which explains why certain players join teams in non-native countries.

In Pristina, the state capital, close to 5,000 Kosovar Albanians who were following the game celebrated the interruption with chants of "Great Albania" and "Victory." In the northern town of Mitrovica — home to a substantial Serbian minority — fans could be heard calling for the murder of Serbs.

— United Serbs (@UnitedSerbs)October 15, 2014

The Serbian minister for foreign affairs, Ivica Dacic, declared the flag incident "a political provocation."

Ditmir Bushati, the Albanian minister for foreign affairs, released his own official statement.

"We are aware of the great differences that do exist between us," Bushati said."We asked the Serbian authorities to show maturity and restraint and not use a football match for political purposes, convinced as we are that football is played on the pitch and not […] in the corridors of diplomatic chancelleries."

Serbian state television announced that Olsi Rama, the brother of the Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, had been controlling the drone from the stands, and had been called in for questioning Tuesday night in Belgrade.

Back in Albania following the match, Rama denied being arrested by Serbian police and claimed to have no link to the drone.

The incident occurred on the eve of Rama's scheduled visit Serbia on October 22, the first state visit by an Albanian government official in almost 70 years. Sources close to the Albanian government told VICE News that the country feared Serbia would revoke its invitation, but insisted that Albania would keep all options open regarding the visit.