Serbia's foreign minister said yesterday an incident in which an Albanian flag flown by a drone sparked violence on and off the pitch at a Serbia versus Albania football match was a "political provocation".
The Euro 2016 qualifying tie between the Balkan rivals had to be abandoned on Tuesday after the drone carrying a "Greater Albania" flag flew low over the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade.
The banner was pulled down by Serbian player Stefan Mitrovic, triggering a brawl between the teams.
Fifa boss Sepp Blatter said football "should never be used for political messages", while the head of the European governing body Uefa, Michel Platini, said the incident was "inexcusable".
The match descended into chaos as a handful of the 20000 Serbian spectators ran on to the pitch and tried to assault the Albanian players.
English referee Martin Atkinson ordered the teams off the pitch as smoke bombs and other missiles rained down.
Albanian fans had been banned from attending the match.
The brother of Albania's prime minister yesterday denied involvement in the stunt. Some media reported that Olsi Rama was arrested in the stands with the remote control in his hands.
A group of Albanian soccer fans claimed they were behind the stunt, which has further soured relations that hit their lowest point in the 1990s war in the former Serbian province of Kosovo, where Albanians are the majority.
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