Former Canada captain de Guzman savouring life in New York Red Bulls front office - Soccer (2024)

The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 2:59 pm | Story: 493409

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — There’s just no stopping the top scorer at the European Championship.

Own-goals lead the way in the scoring chart, with the fifth one of the tournament coming Thursday through Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori in his team’s 1-0 loss to Spain.

The other unfortunate players to score in their own net were Germany’s Antonio Rüdiger, Austria’s Maximilian Wöber, the Czech Republic’s Robin Hraná? and Albania’s Klaus Gjasula.

These five have come from just 18 games so far. There were a tournament-record 11 own-goals at the last edition three years ago.

In an unusual start to Euro 2024, only one player has two goals — Germany forward Jamal Musiala — and 40 players have scored one goal. Gjasula has scored for and against his country.

There’s also this unlikely stat: None of the 47 goals have been penalties.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 2:15 pm | Story: 493396

GELSEKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — At times, it was like watching Lionel Messi.

How about that for a compliment for Lamine Yamal after another thrilling performance at the European Championship that showed just why there is such a buzz around this 16-year-old phenom with blond tinges in his dark hair and magic in his boots.

One moment stood out, in particular, in Spain’s 1-0 win over Italy on Thursday.

It was the middle of the first half and Yamal had just started to put on a show — eliciting some “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from a crowd containing Spain’s King Felipe VI — when the Barcelona youngster found himself inside off his right wing and with the ball at his feet.

Suddenly, he exploded into life, slaloming through the attempted tackles of two would-be challengers — Federico Dimarco and then Jorginho — while keeping the ball stuck to his left foot. As another tackle came in, he managed to play the ball through to Alvaro Morata to get a shot away.

It really could have been Messi.

As it could when he cut back off his wing and lifted the ball deftly over Davide Frattesi’s sprawling tackle.

Or when he produced a double drag-back to leave two Italians grasping at thin air.

Or when he smashed a fierce left-footed shot that curled slightly and kissed the outside of the post around the hour mark.

Yamal was substituted in the 71st minute to applause from Spain’s fans and no doubt sighs of relief from their Italian counterparts.

This was his ninth and easily biggest match in the red shirt of Spain and he didn’t disappoint.

It’s worth repeating that this kid — born near Barcelona to a mother from Equatorial Guinea and a father from Morocco — doesn’t turn 17 until July 13, the day before the Euro 2024 final.

The youngest player to debut (at 15 years, 9 months and 16 days) and score in the Spanish league, the youngest player to start in the Champions League and the youngest to score for Spain’s national team, Yamal earned the distinction of becoming the youngest player to feature at a European Championship in Spain’s 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

He entered the Veltins Arena ahead of the Italy match wearing large earphones and flicking through his cell phone. It was the biggest game of the tournament so far and he clearly wasn’t fazed.

This, after all, is a player doing remarkable things at a remarkable age. Heck, he has a buyout clause of 1 billion euros at Barcelona.

Yamal wasn’t perfect Thursday. He got an attempted backheel all wrong just before he came off. There was a case to say Nico Williams, the 21-year-old on Spain's left wing, was more of a danger to Italy, with Yamal typically keeping it more simple and not always going for the spectacular.

Indeed, Williams said he was applauded into the locker room by his Spain teammates after being selected as the player of the match.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said he didn't want to “highlight one individual over another.”

“Spain won tonight,” he said.

But one thing was for sure: the biggest frisson of excitement among the spectators came when Yamal had the ball.

Just like with Messi at the last World Cup in Qatar.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 1:57 pm | Story: 493387

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Europe beware — Spain might just be back.

The three-time European champion advanced to the round of 16 at Euro 2024 after a 1-0 win against holder Italy on Thursday.

A 55th-minute own goal by Riccardo Calafiori settled the Group B game at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. But that didn’t begin to tell the story of a statement performance from Spain, which surely marks it as one of the favorites to win a record-extending fourth European Championship.

“I think it was the best Spain performance I have taken charge of,” coach Luis de la Fuente said. “I don't see a ceiling on this team. The sky is the limit.”

Spain totally dominated defending champion Italy, with 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal further enhancing his reputation as one of soccer’s most exciting young stars.

Player of the match Nico Williams also tormented Italy's defenders and was the width of the crossbar away from scoring in the second half.

It took Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep the score down with a string of fine saves until inadvertently pushing the ball into the legs of Calafiori, who couldn’t prevent it from ricocheting into his own goal.

“They deserved to win and we were never in the game,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said.

Spain produced a throwback performance that brought to mind the years when it ruled international soccer when winning back-to-back Euros and the World Cup from 2008 through 2012.

Having failed to dominate possession for the first time in 136 competitive games in its opening 3-0 win over Croatia, Spain was back to its old ways in starving Italy of the ball and dictating play in a largely lopsided game.

Chances came thick and fast in the first half, with Donnarumma pulling off a string of saves to keep the score goalless.

For all of Spain’s superiority, it took Calafiori’s own goal to break the deadlock after halftime.

Donnarumma pushed Alvaro Morata’s glancing header into the legs of Calafiori, who could only watch as the ball ricocheted into the back of the net.

Williams was then millimeters away from extending the lead with a curling shot that hit crossbar.

Spain has endured frustrating times since it last won the Euros in 2012, with early exits from the last three World Cups.

At the last Euros, it lost on penalties to Italy in the semifinals.

Having won the UEFA Nations League last year, it looks well-positioned to add another major title in Germany.

“Essentially we haven't achieved anything yet," De la Fuente said. "Football can be very cruel. We have to be cautious, humble and show resect.”

England drew 1-1 with Denmark in Group C after Harry Kane scored and then made a mistake that led to the Danes' leveler. Kane struck a record-extending 64th goal for his country to fire England ahead in Frankfurt. But his loose pass then allowed Morten Hjulmand to equalize from long range.

In the other Group C game, Luka Jovic scored in stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 for Serbia against Slovenia.

England leads the group on four points and is likely to advance to the round of 16.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 12:17 pm | Story: 493357

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a bill that would allow parents to block their children from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm, a move to limit feeds critics argue are addictive.

Under the legislation, feeds on apps like TikTok and Instagram would be limited for people under age 18 to posts from accounts they follow, rather than content suggested by an automated algorithm. It would also block platforms from sending minors notifications on suggested posts between midnight and 6 a.m.

Both provisions could be turned off if a minor gets what the bill defines as “verifiable parental consent.”

The law does not take effect immediately. State Attorney General Letitia James is now tasked with crafting rules to determine mechanisms for verifying a user’s age and parental consent. After the rules are finalized, social media companies will have 180 days to implement the regulations.

“We can protect our kids. We can tell the companies that you are not allowed to do this, you don’t have a right to do this, that parents should have say over their children's lives and their health, not you,” Hochul, a Democrat, said at a bill signing ceremony in Manhattan.

The signing is the first step in what is expected to be a drawn out process of rule making, and a probable lawsuit from social media companies to block the law.

NetChoice, a tech industry trade group that includes X and Meta, has criticized the legislation as unconstitutional.

“This is an assault on free speech and the open internet by the State of New York,” Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of NetChoice, said in a statement. “New York has created a way for the government to track what sites people visit and their online activity by forcing websites to censor all content unless visitors provide an ID to verify their age.”

Most of the biggest social media platforms send users a steady stream of suggested videos, photographs and other content, using a computer to try and predict what will keep users entertained and engaged for as long as possible. The algorithms use a variety of factors to curate that content, including what a user has clicked on before and interests of other people with similar preferences.

The bill marks the latest attempt by a state to regulate social media as part of concerns over how children interact with the platforms.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week announced plans to work with the Legislature on a bill to restrict smartphone usage for students during the school day, though he didn’t provide exact details on what the proposal would include. Newsom in 2019 signed a bill allowing school districts to limit or ban smartphones while at school.

There hasn't been broad legislation on the subject at the federal level but it is a common point of discussion in Washington. This week the U.S. surgeon general called on Congress to put warning labels on social media platforms similar to those on cigarettes, citing mental health dangers for children using the sites.

Some tech companies, with pressure mounting, have decided to set up parental controls on their platforms. Last year, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, created tools that allowed parents to set time limits on the apps for children.

The New York legislation, debuted last October, had faced major pushback in the Legislature from the tech industry.

“Social media platforms manipulate what our children see online to keep them on the platforms as long as possible,” said James, a Democrat who pushed for the bill. “The more time young people spend on social media, the more they are at risk of developing serious mental health concerns.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 12:04 pm | Story: 493358

TORONTO — Toronto FC, looking to find its way back into the win column, will likely be without rookie wingback Tyrese Spicer for the next six weeks.

Coach John Herdman said the back injury which has forced the 23-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago to sit out the last two games is more serious than originally thought.

"Some imaging revealed that there's a deeper issue," Herdman said Thursday. "That's part of why he didn't go to his international call-up and it's why he's been managed with his minutes. But we've started to get to the root of the problem. He took a knock in the back a couple of weeks back and it hasn't really been able to recover."

"It's not muscular, it's more in an around the bone. So it's going to take some time," he added. "That's disappointing."

Spicer, the first overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, has been a revelation while healthy. One of the fastest flank players in the league, he is also able to deliver an accurate cross.

A toe injury also cost him some playing time. Spicer has played in 13 of Toronto's 19 league games, with 10 starts, recording two goals and two assists.

"We are missing Ty," said Herdman. "I think he's the sort of player that comes into the game, to finish strong, to bring that threat in his pace to stretch a line, to get an opponent thinking both ways."

Herdman lamented the string of injuries his team has experienced this season.

"It seems to be our season," he said. "It seems to be just this reality of we seem to take a step forward, the squad seems to solidify and we take a step back and we have to adapt. We've got the summer (transfer) window coming up so I think we're going to have to be active in that space."

Herdman also revealed that Italian star Federico Bernardeschi was under the weather with "some kind of flu" in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to visiting Nashville SC.

"He's obviously feeling that a bit more (Thursday)," said the coach.

Bernardeschi missed a penalty, slipping as he took the kick, but set up Toronto's lone goal by Alonso Coello.

Toronto is also managing fellow Italian Lorenzo Insigne after being away due to injury and the birth of his third son in Italy. The former Napoli captain came off after 62 minutes Wednesday with Herdman explaining he was "gassed."

Herdman's team is also without injured defender Shane O'Neill and midfielder Brandon Servania.

Toronto (7-9-3) is winless in its last five games (0-3-2) and has won just once in its last eight league outings (1-5-2). Saturday's game at the New York Red Bulls is TFC's third in a week.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 10:55 am | Story: 493331

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Where England stands after two European Championship games is the envy of most teams. Just not good enough yet to have title ambitions.

A 1-1 draw Thursday with Denmark — a semifinalist last time, don’t forget — means England is unbeaten and all-but certain to advance to the round of 16.

It also was a slack, mistake-filled display that left coach Gareth Southgate angrily gesturing at his players for gifting a slew of scoring chances late in the game.

“The team didn’t function today, that is my responsibility,” said Southgate, who heard jeers from fans behind the England goal in a ragged second half.

Harry Kane gave England another fast start at Euro 2024, scoring it the 18th minute, but the captain was substituted off in the second half as the team faded.

Denmark leveled in the 34th when Morten Hjulmand fired in a powerful low shot from long distance, after Kane gave away the ball in defense.

Eight years with Southgate has earned England sustained tournament success. The Three Lions reached the final of Euro 2020 — after beating Denmark in the last four — and a semifinal and a quarterfinal at the past two World Cups.

“We’re in the environment of winning on the biggest stage,” the coach acknowledged, adding “you have to accept what (criticism) comes our way.”

England has never won back-to-back games to begin a Euros and a pattern of second-game syndrome has repeated at three straight tournaments.

Opening wins in the past three years have been following by tepid 0-0 draws with Scotland and the United States, now a 1-1 with the Danes who deserved more.

“I can't say we are disappointed but it’s a shame,” Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said. "There is a result we could have gotten.”

Still, England started Euro 2024 by beating Serbia 1-0 and now sits top of Group C with four points. That tally always has been enough to advance in the 24-team Euros format where four third-place teams from the six groups go forward to the round of 16.

England can finish in any position from first to third in the Group C standings after playing unbeaten Slovenia next Tuesday.

Slovenia drew 1-1 with Serbia earlier Thursday, four days after getting the same result against Denmark. Serbia meets Denmark in their final games also on Tuesday evening.

Southgate had defended his players from what seemed like unfair criticism for the nervy nature of the win against Serbia, ceding some control after Jude Bellingham's early goal.

Bellingham was subdued Thursday and Southgate removed the stellar strike trio of Kane, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka in one sweep in the 69th. Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Ollie Watkins came on and within two minutes Watkins almost scored with a shot after a darting run.

The coach's patience seemed to run out in the 85th when his players repeatedly gave away the ball and surrendered scoring chances. He gestured from the sideline with both index fingers pointing to his temples, urging them to think more.

England had led by seizing on sleepiness in the Denmark defense. Hesitation by Victor Kristiansen let right-back Kyle Walker surge past him to steal the ball for a pass across the goalmouth.

When the ball reached Kane he poked home a left-footed shot for a record extending 64th England goal for the captain.

Kane had his part in Denmark’s leveler. His unwise pass out of defense soon went to Hjulmand, who strode forward to fire a low shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and in the net off his right-hand post.

The game was played beneath a closed stadium roof on slippery turf that cut up after steady rain this week.

The teams had royal watchers from the stands with the king of Denmark, Frederik X, and future king of England, Prince William, at the game.

An England team packed with aristocrats of club soccer and stars of the Champions League looked more common on Thursday.

“To achieve extraordinary things you have got to go through some difficult moments,” said Southgate, whose team typically sticks around for the final week. “Today was a difficult moment without a doubt.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 10:53 am | Story: 493332

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 9:35 am | Story: 493315

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The king of Denmark and the future king of England shook hands on a draw between their national teams at the European Championship in men's soccer on Thursday.

Watched by King Frederik X and Prince William, favored England led early but was left hanging on for a 1-1 draw at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt.

“May the best team win,” said the pre-game message posted on Prince William's official account on X. It included a photo of the two men and King Frederik's daughter, Princess Josephine.

Neither team won but there was little doubt that Denmark had played better. Both teams are in contention to advance to the knockout round at Euro 2024 in Germany.

Prince William is president of the English Football Association and a regular spectator at games played by the team, known as the Three Lions.

On a big day out for European aristocrats, King Felipe VI of Spain was at the later game Thursday. Spain was playing Italy in Gelsenkirchen.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 9:11 am | Story: 493310

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Kylian Mbappé trained wearing a blue, white and red face mask with the rest of his teammates on Thursday ahead of France's game against the Netherlands at Euro 2024.

France coach Didier Deschamps said he assumes his star player will be available for Friday's game.

Mbappé spent some time fidgeting with his new headgear before he joined his teammates in running exercises. He lifted it up to speak to Olivier Giroud, then put it back on again as he stretched between Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.

Some of his teammates appeared to be poking fun at the forward, who effectively had the French flag on his face — blue over his right eye, and red over his left.

But Mbappé seemed fully integrated with the rest of the team as he trained with the group after the stretching.

Deschamps sounded confident that Mbappé will play.

“Everything is going well, after the shock we had. He was able to take part is some light exercises yesterday and that will be the same this evening. Everything is evolving in the right direction,” Deschamps said before the training session. “We’ll do all we can to ensure that he’ll be available tomorrow.”

Mbappé broke his nose in France's opening 1-0 win over Austria on Monday when his face collided with Austria defender Kevin Danso’s shoulder as he was trying to head the ball. Blood stained his white France jersey. If he plays Friday, he’ll need to wear a mask.

“Kylian will be wearing a mask,” Deschamps confirmed to journalists. “We don’t need to know the details of this mask. I think you have enough moles to know where the mask is coming from.”

Mbappé returned to light training on Wednesday after undergoing tests on his nose injury.

Buildup to Friday’s match has been dominated by speculation on whether or not the France captain can play.

“Without risks, there are no victories,” Mbappé had written on Instagram.

If he does play, the Real Madrid-bound star will hope to finally score at a European Championship at the sixth attempt. Mbappé has 47 goals in 80 games for France, including 12 in qualifying for the Euros, but he’s yet to score in five games at the tournament.

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman was coy about whether he'd like Mbappé to play.

The France forward scored two and set up another goal as Les Bleus routed the Netherlands 4-0 at home in qualifying, then scored both goals as France defeated Koeman’s team 2-1 in Amsterdam. The Dutch were group runners-up.

“France is such a strong team, that even if Mbappé is not playing, the substitute will be a great player as well," Koeman said. “All we can do is try to influence our team and prepare ourselves as best as we can. Not everything depends on whether Mbappé is there or not. We know that he can be a game changer. He had a big influence on the last two games, two qualification games, but it doesn’t depend on us."

France and the Netherlands are level on three points in Group D. The Dutch came from behind to beat Poland 2-1 and France needed an own goal to beat Austria.

France has won seven of the teams’ last eight meetings.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 8:03 am | Story: 493307

MUNICH (AP) — A late strike denied Slovenia a first-ever win in a European Championship as Serbia snatched a 1-1 draw on Thursday.

Zan Karnicnik’s 69th-minute goal put Slovenia on the brink of a historic win until substitute Luka Jovic leveled deep in stoppage time to keep Serbia's chances of advancing to the knockout stage alive.

The goal sent the Serbia fans into raucous joy but also saw them throw flares and other objects onto the field. By that point, the ground around both goals was littered with plastic cups that had rained down from the stands in the final 10 minutes, prompting announcements over the stadium's speakers urging the fans to stop.

The equalizer was virtually the last action as the referee blew fulltime immediately after the players restarted. The Slovenia players collapsed to the ground in disappointment.

“Serbs do not die so easily,” Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic said. ”We do not give up and nor will we. We believe all the way to the end and the reward came for believing.

“We didn’t accept that we would lose to Slovenia tonight, we didn’t want to accept this result and that’s why the reward came.”

It would have been Slovenia's second win in a major tournament and its first since victory over Algeria in the 2010 World Cup.

“Slovenia has shown that it has a place here at the European Championships,” Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek said. "Sports and football can be cruel but I believe karma will play its part for this team. We have played a fair game in an atmosphere for the ages.

“We have felt disappointment because we know how strong the Serbia players are, how good they are at dead-ball situations. There was a lack of concentration in the last minute but a big thank you to the players for the heart that they have shown in this arena.”

Slovenia — which drew against Denmark in their opener — plays England in its final group match on Tuesday, when Serbia faces Denmark. Serbia lost to England in its first match and could have found itself eliminated with a loss in Munich.

Serbia soccer officials threatened to quit the competition even before a ball had been kicked becasue of offensive fan chants reportedly heard during the Albania-Croatia match.

“I'm just focusing on the game,” Stojkovic said when asked about it. “Honestly speaking, I didn’t even read anything. Believe me or not, it’s true.”

With both teams needing a win on Thursday to boost their chances of progressing, the match started at a fast pace and Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic had to make two early saves.

Those two shots on target in the first eight minutes were as many as Slovenia had in total in its draw with Denmark.

The best chance of the half fell to Slovenia in somewhat fortunate circ*mstances. Timi Elsnik tried to pass to a teammate but the ball came off a Serbia defender and fell kindly back to him for a thunderous effort which crashed off the right post. Benjamin Sesko fired the rebound woefully over.

Slovenia eventually broke the deadlock with a move started and finished by Karnicnik. The defender won the ball deep inside his own half and ran some 40 yards before picking out Elsnik on the left and racing into the box to collect the cross and tap home at the back post.

Serbia almost leveled immediately but Aleksandar Mitrovic — who scored in his previous two matches against Slovenia — hit the crossbar.

Serbia threw everything at Slovenia in the final stages. Even Rajkovic came up for the final corner but it was Jovic who leapt highest to head it past Oblak in the fifth minute of added time.

“I love him very much” Stojkovic said.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 6:30 am | Story: 493296

Canada has moved up one place to No. 48 in the latest FIFA men's world rankings.

The top three are unchanged with Argentina, Canada's opponent in Thursday's Copa America tournament opener in Atlanta still No. 1 with France second and Belgium third.

There are changes elsewhere in the rest of the top 10, however. Brazil leapfrogs England to move into fourth place. Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain are unchanged after No. 5 England with Croatia moving up one spot to No. 9 at the expense of Italy, now 10th.

Peru and Chile, Canada's two other Group A opponents at Copa America, both moved up in the new rankings. Peru climbed one spot to No. 31 while Chile moved up two places to No. 40.

Under the new rankings, Canada ranks 11th among the 16 competing Copa America teams.

The Canadian men's highest-ever ranking was No. 33, reached in February 2022.

It was a busy period with AFC, CAF and CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers and warm-up matches ahead of Euro 2024, Copa America and the OFC Men’s Nations Cup. FIFA says there were 187 matches played since the last rankings in April with Canada taking part in two of them losing 4-0 to the Netherlands and drawing France 0-0.

Liberia was the biggest mover, up 10 places to No. 142 with the team known as the Lone Stars unbeaten in 2024. Others moving up include No. 97 Namibia (up nine), No. 110 North Korea (up eight), No. 103 Mozambique (up seven), No. 121 Sudan (up six) and No. 104 Madagascar and No. 198 Gibraltar (both up five).

The U.S. is unchanged at No. 11 atop the rankings in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. Mexico fell one place to No. 15 while Panama climbed two rungs to No. 43.

Other movers in CONCACAF were No. 78 Honduras (up four), No. 130 Nicaragua (up five), No. 86 Haiti and No. 87 Curaçao (both up four).

Equatorial Guinea suffered the biggest drop, down 10 places to No. 98.

The next editions of the ranks will be released July 18.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 20, 2024 / 6:07 am | Story: 493295

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia soccer officials threatened their team could quit the European Championship after they were offended by fan chants reportedly heard during the Albania-Croatia match.

The game on Wednesday ended 2-2 in Hamburg, and Albanian and Croatia fans were reportedly heard teaming up during play to sing a slogan in Serbian.

Hours after Serbia played its second group match Thursday, against Slovenia in Munich, European soccer body UEFA said it asked an in-house investigator to look at the allegations.

A disciplinary inspector was appointed, UEFA said, “to conduct an investigation regarding potential racist and/or discriminatory conduct by supporters that allegedly occurred.”

UEFA gave no timeline for the case, which is unlikely to be resolved before Serbia's third and potentially last game — on Tuesday against Denmark.

"What happened is scandalous and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even at the cost of not continuing the competition,” Serbia Football Association general secretary Jovan Surbatovic said.

"We will request UEFA to punish the federations of both teams. We don’t want to participate in that, but if UEFA doesn’t punish them, we will think about how to proceed.”

In a separate statement on Thursday, the Serbia FA condemned the “shameful racist behavior” of the Albanian and Croatian fans and said the match should have been suspended as soon as the chants started.

“Such insulting of a nation with cries that they should be killed has not been seen at sports events for a long time,” the statement added.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was with Serbian officials in Munich at the game Thursday against his home country Slovenia, which ended 1-1.

UEFA tournament rules for Euro 2024 call for sanctions against teams refusing to play, and a federation that is “responsible for a match not taking place or not being played in full loses all rights to payments from UEFA.”

Serbia is due to receive at least 9.25 million euros ($9.9 million) from a tournament prize fund of 331 million euros ($355 million) paid from UEFA revenues for broadcast and sponsor deals, plus ticket sales. The Serbia FA also would be liable to pay compensation and face further disciplinary action.

The animosity between Croatian and Albanian fans toward the Serbs, and vice versa, dates to the 1990s wars in the Balkans.

Serbian fans are notorious for their chants against the Croats and Albanians as well as racist shouts and vocal support of convicted war criminals responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands during the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

UEFA fined the Albanian and Serbian federations 10,000 euros ($10,700) each after their first group matches for fans displaying banners with nationalist maps.

Each federation is responsible for the conduct of its fans, and UEFA charged Serbia and Albania with “transmitting provocative messages not fit for a sports event.”

Albania fans displayed a banner with a map of their country extending its borders into the territory of neighboring countries. It was shown on Saturday during the 2-1 loss against Italy in Dortmund.

A Serbia fans banner included the territory of Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, and a slogan, “No Surrender,” in the 1-0 loss against England in Gelsenkirchen.

UEFA has also launched an investigation into claims of monkey chants aimed at England players during the clash.

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