- The Serbian Football Association has threatened to withdraw from the 2024 European Championship
- It follows accusations of insulting anti-Serb chants in the match between Croatia and Albania
- Listen to It all starts! Why are England already being instructed about ignoring the noise from outside the camp?
Chaos could erupt in Group C at Euro 2024 as Serbia has threatened to withdraw from the tournament in Germany after accusing Balkan countries Croatia and Albania of starting offensive anti-Serb chants.
Serbia has claimed that fans from both sides of the 2-2 draw between Croatia and Albania chanted ‘kill, kill, kill the Serb’ in the 59th minute of the match.
The Secretary General of the Football Association of Serbia, Jovan Surbatovic, has submitted a request to UEFA to punish Croatia and Albania for the alleged chants just before the hour mark of their Group B match.
Warning that the Serbian team will leave the competition if no action is taken.
So what would that mean for England and the rest of Group C?
The Serbian Football Association has threatened to withdraw from the 2024 European Championship
It follows accusations of insulting anti-Serb chants in the match between Croatia and Albania
The Secretary General of the Football Association of Serbia, Jovan Surbatovic (far right in the photo), has submitted a request to UEFA to punish Croatia and Albania
What will happen to England and Group C if Serbia pull out of Euro 2024?
If Serbia makes good on their threat, their actions will have a major effect on the remaining teams in Group C.
On current form, England currently sit top of the group after beating Serbia 1-0 in Sunday’s opening match, while Slovenia and Denmark drew 1-1 earlier that day.
Serbia’s next match in the competition will take place on Thursday, June 20 at 2:00 PM, where they will take on Slovenia.
If Serbia go through with this and withdraw from Euro 2024, their final group match against Denmark would fail and possibly their match against Slovenia today as well.
Under UEFA law, this would mean that Denmark and possibly Slovenia would automatically get a 3-0 win against the Balkan country, which would also receive a hefty fine.
According to UEFA, if a national team decides to withdraw from the tournament while it is still in progress, “the results of all its matches will be annulled and the points awarded will be forfeited.”
Serbia would also lose ‘all rights to payments from UEFA’. However, if there is a ‘reasoned and well-documented’ reason for the team’s withdrawal from the competition, the team will be assessed an ‘amount of compensation for financial loss’.
If Serbia were to pull out of Euro 2024, it would cause chaos in Group C
That’s not the only thing that could unfold as a result of Serbia’s withdrawal, as it would leave an odd number of teams in the competition, potentially requiring a new schedule to be drawn up for the remaining matches.
Moreover, it would mean that the teams in the Serbian group would gain an unfair advantage in the competition, as they would inherit extra rest time without the need to play an extra match.
But as Southgate’s men have already played Serbia, this would not apply to them, meaning it would increase the pressure on Southgate’s side to not only win their remaining two matches, but win them by significant scores to win.
However, UEFA could also take further action against Serbia, which would be an unprecedented move at a major tournament.