Serbia and Albania game abandoned after drone invasion sparks brawl

Ethnic tensions in the Balkans and an incident involving a drone led to the abandonment of a major European international football game Tuesday, CNN reported.

Serbia's European Championship qualifying match with Albania was abandoned after 41 minutes following ugly clashes between both sets of players.

The brawl followed the arrival of a mini-drone, which flew over the stadium while carrying a flag with Albanian symbols.

When Stefan Mitrovic, the Serbian player, ripped the flag down, it provided the catalyst for an already combustible tie to fully ignite.

Martin Atkinson, the English referee, took the players off the field with the game goalless following clashes between rival players.

There were no signs of the tie being restarted with UEFA, the game's European governing body, confirming the game had been abandoned.

In a statement on its website, UEFA said that the match "was abandoned and the circumstances will be reported to the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body."