 "Serbia vs England football match had multiple incidents of disturbances, forcing riot police to intervene. images: Reuters")
England’s World Cup qualifying game against Serbia at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade on Tuesday was disrupted multiple times, with the riot police also entering the stands on one occasion, but not for racism as was feared earlier. England captain Harry Kane had discussed the possibility of a racist attack from the Serbian fans before the match. “We are prepared, had a discussion and if it [racist abuse] does happen we will be prepared to do what is necessary,” Kane said before the qualifier.
The match was played with at least 15% of the stadium closed for home fans after racist chanting in a game against Andorra. However, the Tuesday match got over without any such incident, but other disturbances led to brief delays as England won 5-0 against Serbia with Kane scoring the opening goal.
Noni Madueke and Ezri Konsa scored their first-ever goals for England, while Serbia captain Nikola Milenkovic was sent off. Marc Guehi and Marcus Rashford added the remaining two goals.
England vs Serbia paused after laser pen incident
The match was briefly paused in the first half as a laser pen was directed at Konsa’s face. In the 38th minute, the laser light left Konsa feeling dazzled, forcing the French referee, Clement Turpin, to briefly stop the game. Before the Konsa incident, Reece James was also targeted by a beam as he tried to take a free-kick.
The match began shortly, with the organisers announcing a warning to the fans over the public address system against using laser pens.
Midway through the second half, riot police were seen entering the stands that housed the home fans after they started making political slogans. As per reports, the home fans sang anti-government songs and there were also chants related to Kosovo.
Young child moved to safety as riot police enter stand
ITV commentator Sam Matterface said that a child had to be moved out of the stands as riot police approached the home fans. The incident was not captured by cameras.
“There is a stream of riot police running into the home section of the crowd,” Matterface said on air.
While explaining the situation, touchline reporter Gabriel Clarke said: “The disturbance happened in the main stand and it was rather unnervy for a few minutes. A few Serbians ran across that stand, there were families involved as well. Some children had to be moved on.
“It was Serbian fans arguing between themselves. It was politically charged, pro and anti government.The police have moved in and calmed the situation.”
No injuries have been reported from the match.
Serbia has been on a boil for a while due to anti-government protests after the collapse of the roof of a renovated train station that killed 16 people last November.