FIFA opens investigation against Serbia over flag displayed during match against Brazil.

247 - FIFA has opened an investigation against the Serbian Football Association over the flag alluding to Kosovo displayed by the national team in the dressing room at Lusail Stadium for the match against Brazil.

The flag that decorated the Serbian players' locker room featured a map of Serbia superimposed on a map of Kosovo and the phrase "no surrender." Political demonstrations are prohibited by FIFA.

The widespread dissemination of the image was criticized on social media, and the Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) filed a complaint against what it called Serbia's "chauvinistic rhetoric."

"We ask that FIFA rigorously apply its rules and punish the Serbian federation for this aggressive action, which goes against the values ​​that football transmits," declared the FFK.

Kosovo is a province of Serbia that was occupied by NATO following its 1999 bombing campaign. Its ethnically Albanian interim government declared independence with US support in 2008.

While the EU urged Belgrade to recognize Kosovo's independence, Serbia vehemently refused to do so.

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Swiss players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrated their goals against Serbia by making an eagle with their hands, the main symbol on the Albanian flag. The vast majority of Kosovo's population is of Albanian origin. (With ANSA and RT). 

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