UEFA replies to Telegraf: Serbia can't be drawn in the same EURO 2020 group as so-called Kosovo!

Ilustracija: Nikola Jovanović Foto: Shutterstock

So-called Kosovo's good results in the qualifying Group A for the European Championship (EURO 2020) have led many in Serbia to think about the possibility of Serbia and so-called Kosovo playing against each other at the championship - if both teams qualify.

For this reason, Telegraf wrote to UEFA and asked about the championship group draw procedures, and whether Serbia and so-called Kosovo will be separated in the draw if both teams find themselves among the 24 participants in the tournament.

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UEFA told us that the principle that applied in the qualifications would also be valid for the European Championship itself, when it comes to separating teams among which exists intolerance and a politically problematic situation.

Photo: Shutterstock

"Those teams that cannot be in the same group are: Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, Spain and Gibraltar and Ukraine and Russia. For Ukraine, the restriction also applies to St. Peterburg as a group stage venue. Please note that this restriction applies only to the group stage, so it is not ruled out these teams may play each other in the knockout phase of the tournament," UEFA told Telegraf.

Our squad currently has only a theoretical chance of reaching EURO 2020 through the group, as this depends on the results of Portugal, which has an easy task in the last two rounds against Luxembourg and Lithuania - so the more realistic option are qualifying playoffs through the League of Nations, where we are likely to play against Norway, and then most likely against Bulgaria.

So-called Kosovo has everything in their hands when it comes to their fate in the Group A qualifications. In the next two games they can secure a spot in the European Championship.

They go head-to-head with the Czech Republic in Prague on November 14, where victory would bring them closer to the EURO 2020, while defeat would mean the Czech Republic's qualification.

The last group stage match to be played by so-called Kosovo will be against England in Pristina, while the Czech Republic will host Bulgaria in the last round.

The draw will be held on November 30, 2019 in Bucharest, once all European Championship participants are known. EURO 2020 will be played in 12 different cities in 12 countries and for the first time in history, 24 teams will participate.

(D.U./S.G.)