Denmark declines to provide area for Serbian fans in Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Danish Football Association (DBU) will not set aside a secure area of the national stadium in Copenhagen for groups of Serbian fans when Serbia and Denmark meets in an Euro 2016 Group I qualifier on June 13. In effect, that means organised groups of Serbian supporters will not be able to attend the match, although a Serbian football official said individual Serbian fans will be let in. To ensure safety and assume liability, each country provides ticket sales for its own fans in the qualifying matches, the DBU said. But the Serbian Football Association declined to handle tickets for its fans. The Union of European Football Associations -- European football's administrative body -- "has informed us that if the Serbian federation do not want to take responsibility for their own supporters, any conflicts would be DBU's responsibility, both financial and disciplinary. That responsibility we do not feel we can undertake," the DBU head of security, Henrik Kjaer Jensen, said in a statement. The first game between the two countries was played behind closed doors in Belgrade after Serbia got a two-game crowd ban for fan violence in a previous home qualifier against Albania. That match was abandoned after a drone stunt triggered a player brawl and a pitch invasion by Serbian fans. Well-behaved individual Serbian fans who turn up should be able to enter the stadium with no problems, Serbian FA Vice President Ivan Curkovic said. "I don’t think the Danish authorities will actually go to those lengths and examine what language each fan speaks as they approach the stadium," Curkovic was quoted as saying by the Belgrade newspaper Informer. According to Curkovic, the Danish FA wants to prevent organised Serbian fan groups from entering the venue. "We have already paid dearly for the misbehaviour of our supporters in the past," he said. "They keep lighting flares and setting off fireworks, but I believe that decent people who just turn up on their own and buy a ticket won't have a problem." (Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen, additional reporting by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Larry King)