Tuesday night's Euro 2016 qualifiers encounter between Serbia and Albania had to be abandoned after violence amongst the players and supporters erupted on the pitch and in the stands.
The chaos sparked after a drone carrying the Albanian flag and, reportedly, a map of Kosovo, flew over the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade.
Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic pulled down the flag, which led to clashes between the players. Dozens of fans then invaded the pitch, some attacking the Albania players, with one particular home fan smashing one of the traveling players with a stool, resulting in the intervention of riot police.
After things got heated, match official Martin Atkinson halted the game, then led both teams' players off the pitch and into the tunnel as the referee decided on abandoning the game.
A clone with the flag of Albania and the map of Kosovo made an appearance in Serbia's Euro 2016 qualifiers home match vs Albania
When Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic pulled down the flag, clashes and fights erupted between the two teams' players
Dozens of fans then invaded the pitch, with this particular supporter attacking an Albania player with a stool
Confirmation that the match between the two Balkan nations had been abandoned soon followed, as UEFA match delegate Harry Bean revealed that a report on the incident will be submitted to European football's governing body before action is taken.
“It is a regretful situation on which we will report; the referee, myself and the security advisor. The circumstances were such that we couldn’t continue the match,” said UEFA match delegate Harry Been.
“You all saw what happened and I cannot comment on who is to blame or what to blame. I will submit a report with my colleagues to UEFA and UEFA will decide what will happen further.”
Riot police had to intervene tocalm down the situation, and stop the home side's fans from inflicting damage
The Albania players later decided on exiting the pitch, running for the tunnel to take refuge
The first match since 1967 between the two countries, notorious for their political tension, the away fans were banned from attending Tuesday's game in an attempt to avoid violence between the two supporters.
After the Albania players took refuge, the Serbia starting XI followed suit and evacuated the pitch, which included many respected English Premeir League stars, including Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic, Manchester City duo Aleksandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasic, and Southampton's summer signing Dusan Tadic.
The Blues right-back Ivanovic later expressed his disappointment, claiming the opposing team were not fit to resume play after the disturbance.
"What happened is something we can't comprehend at the moment. All I can say i that we wanted to carry on. We shielded the Albanian players every step of the way in the tunnel.
"The Albanian team said they were unfit physically and mentally to carry on after talking to the officials."
Man City's Aleksandar Kolarov was pictured helping the Albania players make it down the tunnel in peace, and also attempted to calm down the Serbia faithful
Huge respect to Kolorov for helping some Albanian players down the tunnel whilst under attack from the Serbian fans. pic.twitter.com/dm51mg8sCa
— Tom (@livingjoke) October 14, 2014
