UEFA banned Albania’s Mirlind Daku for two games today having found that the footballer led fans in nationalist chants after the team’s 2-2 draw with Croatia in the men’s Euro 2024 tournament last week.

Daku took a megaphone on Wednesday in Hamburg to chant slogans against Serbia and North Macedonia.

The chants and fallout from the game have been the most serious involving Balkan politics at a Euros, with the most ever teams from the region playing — and offering a stage for some fans to air its issues.

Uefa said its disciplinary judges found Daku guilty of “failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”

Uefa also ordered the Albanian FA to pay fines totaling €47,250 (£40,000) for incidents at the game, where its fans chanted an anti-Serb slogan, reportedly “Kill the Serbs.”

The Serbian FA had threatened its team would quit the tournament if Uefa did not punish the incidents.

On the field, Albania play a decisive group-stage game tomorrow against Spain. If Albania advance, Daku would also miss the round of 16 game.

Daku later apologised for his actions in a social media post. The 26-year-old forward began playing for Albania last year having used his right under Fifa rules to change his eligibility from Kosovo, the ethnic-Albanian former province of Serbia that declared independence 16 years ago.

Uefa had also announced charges against both Albania and Croatia FAs over “potential racist and/or discriminatory conduct” by fans on Wednesday.

However, only Albania was fined for “transmitting provocative messages not fit for a sports event.” The Croatia federation was fined just €27,500 (£23,000) for fans lighting and throwing fireworks at the stadium.

The Albanian FA — the FSHF — called on the fans to be “accountable and avoid incidents and riots.”

“The FSHF invites fans and football lovers to support to the end the Albanian national team in this magical and historic path in Euro 2024 by showing citizenry and accountability through correct behaviour and by respecting the rules and the opponents,” said a statement.

Albania have impressed at Euro 2024 in an opening 2-1 loss against Italy and then the 2-2 draw with Croatia.

With three national teams at Euro 2024 from the former Yugoslavia — Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia — plus Kosovo’s neighbor Albania, fans have shown that their shared history in the brutal Balkans war of the 1990s and diplomatic issues since cannot easily be forgotten.

Serbia and Albania each were fined by Uefa after their opening games for fans “transmitting a provocative message.” It cost them €10,000 (£8,500) each for a first offence.