The Secretary General of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS), Jovan Šurbatović, confirmed that the Eagles will not join the aforementioned initiative and then explained this decision of the umbrella organization of Serbian football.
It is true that we received a request to join the initiative and that we did not respond positively to it, because we are focused on football. Anything that could ignite any kind of provocation among our public and fans or that can be understood as a form of politicization is not acceptable to us.
Šurbatović
He added that the FSS respects the right to freely express opinions, but that they do not want to participate in matters that have nothing to do with football.
We maintain a purely sporting and politically neutral position. We expressed that position at the meeting in Doha when various ideas were initiated. We are always in favor of universal messages like “Stop war” and “Peace”, but the issue of the rainbow ribbon is very sensitive and unnecessary for our society. We are only focused on football. Among our fans there are members of various social groups and religious communities, we respect the right to free expresssion of each individual’s views, but we repeat–these topics are not suitable for football, and stadiums are not the place for such things. That is the position of the FSS.
Secretary General of the FSS
In addition to Serbia, Croatia, Portugal, Spain and Poland will not participate in the “One Love” campaign from Europe.