Chaotic scenes as Rangers star caught up in abandoned match as players suddenly STORM OFF pitch

WALK AWAY Chaotic scenes as Rangers star caught up in abandoned match as players suddenly STORM OFF pitch

IANIS HAGI and his Romania team mates were caught up in chaotic scenes as Kosovo players dramatically STORMED OFF the pitch and forced their match to be abandoned.

The Rangers star was introduced as a late substitute during his national team's Nations League clash against the Kosovars.

3 A scuffle broke out between both sets of players in stoppage time

3 The Kosovo players then stormed off the pitch in protest at the Romania fans

3 They then refused to come back out to resume the match

Hagi entered the pitch in the 89th minute and just moments later chaos ensued.

In the third minute of stoppage time, the Kosovo players decided they had had enough of the Romanian fans who were taunting them with chants of "Kosovo is Serbia".

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but political tensions between the two nations remain high and there have been various protests and demonstrations in recent years.

A scuffle broke out amongst players on the edge of the box and as Hagi himself lined up to take a free-kick in the aftermath, he could only watch as the Kosovo players began to walk off the pitch due to the sounds from the crowd.

Similar actions took place in September last year when Romanian fans made similar taunts, only that time the game was able to resume.

However, sources in Romania claim that Kosovo players have since expressed regret about allowing that match to restart and that if such a thing happened again, they would do everything in their power to abandon the game.

The players marched down the tunnel and back into the dressing room and resisted urges from officials to come back out onto the field of play.

Last year's game, a Euro 2024 qualifier, ended in a 2-0 win for Romania.

This time out, the match was locked at 0-0 when the players headed inside.

Hagi himself threw his arms in the air as the opposing team began to trudge off the pitch.

The delay would last a whole 30 minutes before eventually an update came over the tannoy.

The stadium announcer at the Arena Națională said: "I feel bad, I don't know what to say. Our Kosovo guests refuse to come out for the last seconds in this match."

To make matters more bizarre, a pitch invader ran out onto the park as the match was left in limbo.

They were cheered on by the supporters still inside the ground before being eventually tackled near one of the corner flags.

Even more remarkably, Kosovo needed at least a 3-0 win to have a chance of topping their group.

And if Uefa conclude that it was Romania's fault for the game getting abandoned, then they could award Kosovo a 3-0 win by default.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page

Click here to read article