We’ve seen drones employed at war and even to troll cops, but we’ve never seen one used to provoke and stop an official football game, which is what happened tonight at the Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania.
The Group 1 game was taking place in Serbia’s Partizan Stadium in Belgrade with no away fans due to long-standing political tensions between the two countries, chiefly over the Kosovo dispute.
This was the first time that Albania played a game in Belgrade since 1967.
The high-tension soccer game erupted near the end of the opening 45 minutes when a remote controlled quadcopter carrying an ethnic Albanian flag accompanied by a map of Kosovo was flown in the stadium irritating fans and players of the Serbian team.
Eventually, Serbian players brought down the drone, but then Albanian players stepped in to get their flag and chaos ensued.
After more than half an hour delay, English referee Martin Atkinson decided to suspend the match.