Kukan: Don’t mix sports with politics
18/10/2014 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
Eduard Kukan, Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Serbia,
condemned the violence in the stadium of Belgrade, and suggested that
everything that has happened on the field should be left to UEFA, and
politics should not get involved.
Kukan: I firmly believe that sport should not be used or misused for political reasons. Violence is not the way to use in sport and games. Fair play is the rule that should be applied always when these things are organized. I said it and I regret what happened very much, because I’m afraid it is going to bring a lot of tension in the new mutual relations between the countries. It is going to damage and spoil the atmosphere, and will distract the agenda from the European integration. I think that should be the most important agenda for the governments of both countries, but, as the situation is developing now, I’m afraid it will be difficult to concentrate. I regret it very much. I don’t want to define the portion of responsibility. I would leave it to the UEFA, who started the investigations. I think that they will have all the authentic information, all the relevant information, and I think it will be necessary for them to decide.
Top Channel: Do you agree with the position of the High-Representative of the EU, and do you expect Albania to apologize, as the Serbian government declared?
Kukan: That’s the decision of the Albanian Prime Minister. Very frankly, I have not read the full text of the statement of the high representative, so it would be difficult to comment fully, because every word matters in this situation, and every word can spoil things that are quiet, so I would not answer to that question.
Top Channel: As head of the delegation for Serbia, have you followed the escalation of the situation there after the match? Some businesses of the Albanian minority have been attacked and destroyed during these days.
Kukan: I only say that politics and sports shouldn’t mix. Anything which is used for political goals should be condemned. It is very bad that it happened just a week before the planned visit of the Prime Minister of Albania, after 68 years. It would be very interesting to watch what would be the decision of the two Prime Ministers to go on with the visit or not. I would very much advise them to go ahead and to show statesmanship.
Top Channel: When you say that you regret what happened, I trust you condemn the chants in Belgrade “Kill and slaughter Albanians so they don’t exist”.
Kukan: This is very bad. I am a fan myself and I have followed some matches like the one in Belgrade. I am very against it and UEFA has always punished the events when there has been racism.
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