Football violence

Platini urges Serbia to address football hooliganism

26.02.2013 u 21:00

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President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini on Tuesday sent a letter to Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic urging Serbia to solve hooliganism in football. A letter of similar content was also sent by Platini to Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic today, too.

According to the letter forwarded to Belgrade, the UEFA leadership is concerned over an unacceptable level of violence and riots at matches which Serbia's national team plays.

Platini also insists on a meeting of the UEFA Stadium and Security Committee chairman Frantisek Laurenc with Serbian officials and sports workers as soon as possible.

The Croatian National Football Federation (NHS) and the football federation of Serbia have recently agreed that there will be no organised large-scale transport of respective fans of the visiting national teams during the teams' matches this year.

The two federations decided to follow guidelines of the international umbrella football associations -- UEFA and FIFA -- that have described Croatia-Serbia qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as high-risk matches. The first fixture is scheduled for 22 March in Zagreb, and their second fixture is on 6 September in Belgrade.