Supporters of FC Twente showed a political banner in the Conference League match with Serbian FK Cukaricki last Thursday. On the canvas was an image that Kosovo would belong to Serbia. FC Twente did not notice the canvas, it reports in an official statement. Had that been the case, the club would have taken further steps. It is not the first time that FC Twente supporters have become involved in the tensions in the Eastern Bloc. This already happened in 2009 and 2017.
It is not known how long the canvas hung there last week. FC Twente does write that it would have been removed if it had been noticed. “Because the club distances itself from politically tinted expressions,” reads a statement on the club site. “A stadium is not intended for that. FC Twente does not ask supporters to hang politically tinted banners in the stadium. This results in fines from UEFA. This also applies to setting off fireworks. use it in a different way.”
FC Twente fans at Cukaricki away with the ‘No Surrender’ flag a Serb in Kosovo was arrested for wearing last week.
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The first time Twente fans got involved in the Albanian conflict was in 2009, during a home match against AZ. Stewards of the club then managed to remove the banner. In 2017, the same happened during the duel with Feyenoord. Twente had two players with a Kosovar background in the selection with Bersant Celina, who was suspended at the time and addition to Enis Bunjaki. However, the club management had never noticed any antipathy towards the players or Kosovo.
Kosovo has seceded from Serbia, but the Serbs do not recognize independence. After the incident in 2017, FC Twente managed to track down the perpetrators. Based on camera images, the club was able to trace two supporters and issue a stadium ban. The fanatical supporter group Vak-P said it was not involved at the time. This time, those responsible seem to get away with it. Political statements in stadiums are prohibited by both UEFA and the KNVB.
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