Skopje, 4 August 2025 (MIA) – Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on Monday condemned racist chanting at the Macedonia-Romania basketball game that took place Saturday in Kumanovo.

He mentioned that the host, the Basketball Federation and the Municipality of Kumanovo, also condemned the incident, which involved xenophobic chants by a few fans.

“To be honest, I didn’t hear anything while I was there, it involved a small group of people. I’d like to take this opportunity to condemn the nationalist and xenophobic chanting during the Macedonia-Romania basketball game and to send a message to all sport fans to cheer on their team and the national team of Macedonia with dignity. That is what the government is supporting. Everything other than that will be investigated and sanctioned,” Mickoski stated speaking to reporters on Monday.

He reiterated that he “absolutely condemned xenophobic and nationalist chants by a few that wasn’t met by any support by other attendees.”

Sport Minister Borko Ristovski said there is no place for such chants in Macedonia.

“The Ministry of Sports can only educate sport fans to raise awareness that everyone has the right to support their team. Such incidents shouldn’t ever happen,” he told reporters.

On Sunday, the political parties condemned the racist chants at Saturday’s basketball game between the teams of Macedonia and Romania in Kumanovo. Yesterday, the Kumanovo, Public Prosecution said it had issued orders and guidelines to the Kumanovo police to investigate chanting that involved hate speech by unknown individuals at the game. The police were also ordered to secure CCTV footage in order to identify the perpetrators.

Photo: government