The football associations of Albania and Serbia have become the first to face disciplinary proceedings over fan behaviour during the opening matches of the Euro 2024 championship.

While fans targeted their respective national teams' opponents – the Albanian team played Italy in its opening match, while Serbia played England – Serbian fans also reportedly displayed a national flag that included Kosovo within its borders, while Albanian fans were seen displaying flags of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and a flag depicting a map of ‘Greater Albania’, a political construct that adds territory from neighbouring countries to Albania. 

UEFA said it is investigating allegations of discriminatory chanting by Serbian fans during their team's 1-0 defeat against England in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. England players were reportedly targeted with racist abuse during the match, though no official complaints have been made by the England camp.

The Football Federation of Kosovo had earlier lodged a complaint with UEFA regarding Serbian flags, chants and banners at the match, which it claimed contained “political, chauvinistic and racist messages against Kosovo”.  

Kosovan soccer officials highlighted these issues to UEFA. “Calls against the state of Kosovo in a major event like Euro 2024 are motivation for nationalist groups and threaten the fragile security of the region,” the statement said. 

UEFA confirmed that an ethics and disciplinary inspector would investigate the "alleged discriminatory behaviour" by Serbian fans, an inquiry expected to take several weeks. Serbia faces charges for their supporters displaying a banner with a "provocative message unfit for a sports event" and for throwing objects inside the stadium.

Albania, meanwhile, was the subject of four UEFA charges over a "provocative message" allegedly displayed by their fans and other misbehaviour during the team’s 2-1 loss to Italy. UEFA did not specify the message in question. 

UEFA stated on June 16 that the Albanian soccer federation was under disciplinary proceedings for the message, throwing objects, use of fireworks and a pitch invasion.

On June 18, the Albanian Football Federation said it had been fined a total of €37,375 by the UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. 

"The Football Federation takes the opportunity to appeal to all Albanian fans to be more responsible and avoid the creation of these totally avoidable incidents and riots, which can bring financial penalties and damage the image of Albania and Albanian football. Also, the AFL informs Albanian fans that messages of a non-sporting nature (political, ethnic, etc.) are not allowed during matches," the federation said in a statement. 

These charges mark the first disciplinary actions announced by UEFA at Euro 2024, which began on June 14 in Germany. 

Violent scenes also erupted in both Dortmund and Berlin as Italy and Albania clashed at Euro 2024. Although most fans mingled peacefully, there were violent moments. On Saturday afternoon, around 100 Albanian ultras dressed in black attacked Italian fans near a fast-food restaurant. Riot police quickly intervened. 

Despite these incidents, relations between the two countries' supporters were mostly amicable. Footage from the Euros in Germany shows Albanian fans taunting Italians by snapping spaghetti in front of them, a comedic exchange that saw Italians dropping to their knees in mock disbelief. Later, Italian fans joined in a traditional Albanian dance outside the stadium.

Football is a very popular sport in the Western Balkans, but hooliganism has become a significant issue due to its links to politics, nationalism, violence and organised crime, according to a 2022 report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, "Dangerous games: Football hooliganism, politics and organised crime in the Western Balkans”.