Albania player Mirlind Daku banned for two Euro 2024 games after leading crowd in nationalist chants

FRANKFURT, Germany — Albania player Mirlind Daku was banned on Sunday for two games after leading fans in nationalist chants at the European Championship, that UEFA said brought soccer into disrepute.Daku took a megaphone after Albania’s 2-2 draw with Croatia on Wednesday in Hamburg and joined in chanting slogans against Serbia and North Macedonia.The incidents and fallout from the game in Hamburg have been the most serious involving Balkan politics at a Euros with the most-ever teams from the region playing — and offering a stage for some fans to air its issues.UEFA said its disciplinary judges found Daku guilty of “failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”UEFA also ordered the Albanian soccer federation to pay fines totaling $50,500 for incidents at the game where its fans chanted an anti-Serb slogan, reportedly “Kill the Serbs.”The Serbian soccer federation said it would quit the tournament if UEFA did not punish the incidents.On the field, Albania plays a decisive group-stage game on Monday against Spain.If Albania advances, Daku also would sit out the round of 16 game.Daku later apologized for his actions in a social media posting, as UEFA appointed an in-house investigator to study his “alleged inappropriate behavior.”The 26-year-old forward began playing for Albania last year having used his right under FIFA rules to change his eligibility from Kosovo, the ethnic-Albanian former province of Serbia that declared independence 16 years ago.UEFA had also announced charges against its member federations of both Albania and Croatia over “potential racist and/or discriminatory conduct” by fans on Wednesday.However, only Albania was fined for “transmitting provocative messages not fit for a sports event.”The Croatia federation was fined just $29,400 for f...