Stip: court sentences parent of a football player who attacked underage players

Stip court handed a sentence of 11 months in prison to Avni Abgulij, who attacked underage football players during a minor league match between Bregalcnica from Stip and Shkupi from Skopje.

The incident raised ethnic tensions as the team supported by the attacker is largely Albanian, and Bregalnica’s players are mostly Macedonians. Abgulij is the parent of a Shkupi player and at one point he attacked two 15 year old Bregalnica players, breaking one’s nose. Other Shkupi fans and parents of players also stormed the pitch before the incident was defused. His son was banned from playing organized football while two other Shkupi players and one Bregalnica player were banned for a period of time.