Serbia Asks FIFA to Scrap Kosovo Friendlies

Serbia's Football Association, FSS, has written to FIFA, asked it to cancel a decision to allow Kosovo's national team to play friendly matches.The FSS said the Serbian flag was set on fire before Kosovo's first such friendly, played in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, against Haiti.The match, which ended in a draw, was watched by the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo.The flag-burning was "a direct act of attack on the Republic of Serbia, our citizens and our statehood," the Serbian letter to FIFA said.According to them, Kosovo also did not respect an agreement with Serbia not to display any national emblems of Kosovo at the friendly game, either on players' outfits or at the stadium."Before the game, in front of the stadium, fans set the Serbian flag on fire and insulted the symbols of our country. During the game, the fans of the home team also shouted racist remarks against Serbian nation and state," the FSS letter continued.Serbia's flag was also burned recently at the friendly match in St Gallen, Switzerland, by fans of the Croatian national team.t see the burning of the Croatian flag during the World Cup 2014 Qualification match with Croatia in Belgrade.""Will you see it now?," the fans wrote in a message on a large banner displayed under the burning flag.The toching of the flag was also allegedly followed by shouts of "Za dom spremni" [Ready for the homeland] and "Hajmo Ustase" [Let's go, Ustashe] - slogans of the Fascist regime in Croatia during World War 2.The Serbian Association has not written to FIFA about the behaviour of the Croatians fans, however.The video of the torching of the Serbian flag before the Kosovo-Haiti match in Mitrovica on March 16: