Cristi Balaj believes that referee Michael Oliver should have stopped the match due to the xenophobic chants of the Bosnian supporters, but he did not take any action.

Former international referee Cristi Balaj commented on the match between Bosnia and Romania, in which the home supporters chanted xenophobic slurs, shouting "Ți##nii" almost throughout the match. Balaj emphasized that English referee Michael Oliver should have initiated the procedure to stop the game according to FIFA regulations. If the chants had continued, the players should have been sent to the locker rooms, and the match would have been definitively stopped if the abuses persisted. Balaj criticized Oliver's lack of reaction, deeming it unacceptable and stating that he should have understood the meaning of the term used by the supporters. Romania has submitted a memorandum to FIFA to request measures against the xenophobic behavior of Bosnian fans, considering that the team had been previously sanctioned for similar chants.