Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has spoken out against the decision of his country's Football Federation to hold the match against England in Belgrade and not in Leskovac, as was previously rumored to happen with the match against Albania.
Both of these challenges, with England on September 9 and Albania on October 11, the Serbian Federation, after discussions with UEFA, has decided that the local national team will play at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium, where the capital's team Red Star Belgrade plays.
According to Vučić, the FSS has been under pressure for several days, especially for the match against England. He stressed that he personally was in favor of the idea of the national team continuing to play in Leskovac, where they had received great support from the fans at the "Dubočica" stadium in the match against Andorra in June.
"The Football Federation and others cannot withstand even five minutes of pressure from the British embassy and others who demand that the match with England be played in Belgrade. And after two days of pressure, they change their decision and demand that it be played in Belgrade. I was in favor of it being played in Leskovac, but everyone else made the decision to play it in Belgrade. For me, the people in Leskovac are no less valuable than those in Belgrade. They gave extraordinary support to our team against Andorra," Vučić told TV Informer from Prague.
The Serbian president also stressed that in Belgrade, the support for the national team will not come close to what the fans gave in Leskovac.
"There won't even be 300 people in 'Marakana' or any other stadium, because Belgrade is not interested. Now that the English are coming, the English don't want to travel all the way to Leskovac. What do I care if it doesn't suit them? I received ten requests from embassies and I didn't want to respond to any of them. Of course, some others who are unable to handle the pressure have reacted and changed their decision, moving the match from Leskovac to Belgrade," he added.
The Serbian national team, after two matches played in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, has accumulated four points, and the next matches await them in September. They will first play in Riga on September 6 against Latvia and three days later against England at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium.
Then, on October 11, Serbia will host Albania, also at the Red Star Stadium, while in November it will return to Leskovac for the match against Latvia on the 16th. (A2 Televizion)
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