Tottenham man caught in Nations League chaos as players walk off pitch in protest

Radu Dragusin was caught in the midst of controversy while representing Romania in the Nations League as he and his teammates saw the opposition players walk off the pitch due to offensive chanting.

Major drama as Kosovo players storm out of the pitch

The clash between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest saw some major drama in the final moments of the game.

The score was poised at 0-0 heading into injury time but the Kosovo players decided to walk out of the pitch in the 93rd minute after Romanian fans allegedly chanted pro-Serbian slogans.

Serbia and Kosovo have a troubled history, with the former still not recognising the latter’s independence, with Football.London claiming that the Kosovo players were deeply upset by the chants they were hearing.

Kosovo manager and captain explain the decision to walk out

Those in the Kosovo camp are unapologetic about their decision to leave the field before the final whistle, admitting that they heard some unacceptable things being chanted by the crowd in Bucharest.

The nation’s head coach Franco Foda, said: “Unfortunately, at the end of the match, respect was lost. And that’s why we decided to leave the field.

“Then we talked to the players and everyone else. But the problem is that the situation in the stadium didn’t change then we all decided not to go back to the field and not to continue the match.

“I’m sorry for that, as the team played a great game tonight. But everyone should respect the fact that we are Kosovo in the future to take appropriate steps so that what happened tonight does not happen again.”

Kosovo captain Amir Rrahmani claimed: “There were constant calls ‘Serbia, Kosovo’. This happened for 90 minutes. In the extra minutes, the calls started with other words that I don’t want to repeat because it’s a shame.

“I told the ref for the first time to listen to them. He did nothing. The second time he didn’t want to listen. After the third time, I told him we are going out because this is so wrong.

“They have been aware because our Federation has made it clear to them to try to avoid this. The fans started even more after that with chants of ‘Kosova, Serbia’.

“That’s why we decided not to go out again as happened last year. UEFA must decide because we are footballers, we are here to represent our people, our country, which has a difficult past.”

What this means for Dragusin and Romania

UEFA are yet to clarify their stance on the matter and whether Kosovo’s walk-out would be considered a forfeit.

Romania are thus waiting to hear whether they will be awarded any points for the game, but they are still well-placed to qualify for the next round as long as they are not hit with a points deduction.

Dragusin and co are currently sitting at the top of Group 3 in League C, having won all four of their previous games and take on Cyprus later this evening.

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