A drone was used to a fly a flag of Greater Albania into the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade on Tuesday night.
UEFA president Michel Platini believes that the recent drone incident during Serbia’s abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania highlights a huge security threat to football games, report the Mail, with the potential for bombs to be dropped from remote controlled flying devices.
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Premier League referee Martin Atkinson was forced to abandon the clash in Belgrade before half-time after the flag, a reference to the politically sensitive Kosovo issue, sparked ugly scenes on and off the pitch in the Serbian capital, with players scuffling and Serbian supporters entering the pitch and attempting to attack the Albanian side, who reportedly refused to continue the match after the trouble had been dampened down.
Whilst the flag was certainly intended to cause offence and stir up trouble, it is not a dangerous item, but UEFA president Platini believes that it indicates the possibility of even more incendiary items being brought into stadiums by drones:
“We opened an investigation. We will wait for the reports from Belgrade, but just imagine that the drone had carried a bomb instead of a flag. We must be careful, as everything is becoming dangerous, especially in the regions where there are a lot of political tensions, such as this one.”