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Drone-hit game goes down as Albania win

SPORT’S top court awarded Albania victory over Serbia yesterday in the Euro 2016 qualifier that had to be abandoned last October when a drone flew a political banner into the Belgrade stadium.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the drone carrying the pro-Albania flag was the responsibility of the Albanian FA but decided the game had been abandoned because of the violent reaction from Serbian fans and stewards.

CAS overturned Uefa’s original sanction, awarding Albania a 3-0 win and ordering three points be deducted from Serbia.

Both the Albania and Serbia FAs have been fined €100,000.

The match had to be abandoned before half-time when a drone carrying a flag referencing Greater Albania — notionally including Kosovo, which unilateral declared independence from Serbia in 2008 — was flown by a controller unknown into the stadium.

When Serbia’s Stefan Mitrovic took the flag down chaos ensued, with fans and players involved in scuffles.

Albanian fans had been banned from the match due to security fears.

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