Pristina and Belgrade clash over the presence of the Kosovo flag at the UEFA Congress in Serbia

The Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) and the Football Federation of Serbia (FFS) have clashed over the presence of the Kosovo flag at the 49th Congress of the European Football Association (UEFA) in Belgrade on April 3.

While the Serbian Federation said it had removed the Kosovo flag from the Congress venue in the Serbian capital, the Kosovo Federation insisted that the flag was present until the end of the meeting.

A video of the president of the Football Federation of Kosovo, Agim Ademi, posing next to the Kosovo flag at a UEFA event in Belgrade received widespread attention on social media and the media late Wednesday.

On the day of the UEFA Congress, Thursday, the Serbian Federation said it removed the flag, blaming UEFA for its placement.

UEFA has not responded to Radio Free Europe's questions about this event by the time of publication of this text.

Kosovo has been a full member of UEFA since 2016, but Serbia continues to oppose the presence of the Kosovo Federation in the home of European football, just as it opposes Kosovo's independence, declared in 2008.

In a press release early Thursday, the Serbian Federation said the "extraordinary organization" of the Congress was overshadowed by "an oversight by the organizers that a Congress participant tried to exploit for non-football interests."

"We reacted together, quickly and decisively, and with full responsibility we inform the public that there are no flags of the so-called Kosovo at the UEFA Congress today in Belgrade," the Serbian Federation said in a statement.

It is not clear at what time the Kosovo flag was removed from the Congress venue, as UEFA's annual gathering ended shortly after noon on Thursday.

However, the Kosovo Federation rejected the claims of its Serbian counterpart, saying that Kosovo participated in the UEFA Congress in Belgrade with state symbols.

In a reaction on its website, the FFK said that regarding the claims about the removal of the Kosovo state flag during the Congress proceedings, "we emphasize that Kosovo was officially represented with its state symbols, just like any other UEFA member."

"Any possible action at the end of the meeting, when the FFK president was no longer in the room, does not change the fact that Kosovo was and remains an equal part of this organization, just as it is in the European and world football family," she said.

The FFK warned that it will "immediately" submit a protest note to UEFA and other international institutions "regarding these actions, which are against the values ​​that UEFA promotes."

The 49th regular UEFA Congress was held at the Sava Congress Centre in Belgrade. The annual gathering brought together the presidents and general secretaries from UEFA's 55 national member associations to discuss key issues shaping European football.

In his opening speech, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin stressed the importance of unity and solidarity in European football.

"We are a united team. A unified force. And a powerful union. We are the union of European football," he said./ REL