By Fatjon Prroni
ANKARA
Albania on Friday celebrated a reversal of the decision to award Serbia a win from their controversial Euro 2016 qualifier in October.
Following the abandoned match in Serbian capital Belgrade - which saw a drone fly a pro-Albanian flag above the pitch, flares thrown and Serbian fans attack Albanian players before either team had scored - Serbia was awarded a 3-0 victory by UEFA but denied points for the game.
A decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday reversed that ruling and gave Albania three points, deducting three from Serbia.
“Supeeeer! This is what European justice means. Three points for the black and red national team in Belgrade,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama tweeted.
The country’s president, Bujar Nishani, also congratulated the team in a Facebook post. “Congratulations to the National Team. Forward!” he wrote.
Armand Duka, president of the Football Association of Albania, told reporters at a press conference in capital Tirana: “Justice has won.”
The team’s Italian coach Gianni De Biasi told the Top TV channel: “If we want to go directly to France 2016, we have to make good in the remaining matches.”
In its decision, the court ruled the Group I match “be deemed to have been forfeited by the FAS [Football Association of Serbia] by the score of 0:3.”
A statement added that the Oct. 14 match “was stopped by the referee at the 41st minute when a number of flares were thrown on the pitch by Serbian fans. During this stoppage, several incidents occurred and, in particular, around 15 Serbian fans invaded the pitch and violently attacked the Albanian players.”
The court said the "match stoppage and the eventual abandonment of the match were caused by security lapses of the organizers and acts of violence exerted on the Albanian players by the Serbian fans and at least one security steward."
Therefore, Serbia rather than Albania “must be considered as responsible for the match not being played in full.”
A 100,000 euro ($112,000) fine against Albania over the drone was left in place.
The decision keeps alive Albanian hopes of qualifying for the country’s first major football tournament. The team now lies in joint second place with Denmark in its group, on 10 points and with a game in hand over the Danes.
Following the ruling, Serbia is bottom of the group with minus two points while Portugal leads. Albania is unbeaten in the qualifiers and has climbed 15 places in the FIFA rankings, from 51th to 36th.
Albania and Serbia are due to face each other in Albania on Oct. 8.
