Travelling support for Wales has soared under Mark Hughes

The Serbia & Montenegro FA says it has safety concerns over the match next Wednesday since the Serbian government declared a state of emergency following the assassination of its Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic.

Wales' travelling fan base has soared following their rise through the international rankings under manager Mark Hughes and an estimated 1,600 Wales fans were expected to make the trip to the Balkans.

Tickets

European fooball body UEFA has put off an annoucement on the fate of the fixture until Wednesday.

The UEFA decision will be taken in Rome where senior officials are present for an executive committee meeting, although plans to switch the game to the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, look set to be kicked into touch.

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Even a postponement could see many fans losing their deposits for airline and rail tickets as well as hotel bookings.

Cardiff City fan Mark Ainsbury is a veteran supporter of Wales' away games.

The 35-year-old London-based civil servant is chairman of the 1927 Club, the organisation for Bluebirds' supporters in the UK capital.

He fears he will lose around �200 on the airline ticket he has booked, although he can still cancel his �150 hotel booking in Belgrade.

He said: "We're all gutted, because we're all going to lose money and there's no way we can get refunds.

"We've had repeated assurances from Belgrade that the game was not in threat - until yesterday.

"The FAW's conduct has been exemplary. They have said they don't want the game switched to Montenegro and they certainly don't want to see the game in Cardiff.

'Streetwise'

"They are standing up for the fans and the fans welcome their stand.

"It's very annoying as the team is on a roll and we would have got the points but we see an inevitability about it."

Mr Ainsbury said he would have no worries about travelling to Belgrade, despite the state of emergency, should the game go ahead as scheduled.

"Nearly all the Wales fans who are going have been travelling across Europe for 20 years now, we're very streetwise and capable of looking after ourselves.

"We perceive the problem as an internal one which would not involve the Wales fans.

"But it's above and beyond football now since the Serbian government got involved."

'Disappointing'

BBC online journalist Gary Pritchard, 32, from Holyhead, and 11 of his friends have paid �237 each for the tickets to fly with a Czech airline via Prague.

All 12 stand to lose their cash unless they can give the airline dates for a re-scheduled match and they would have to supply those by the end of this week and also pay a further �100 for the new tickets.

Mr Pritchard said: "Our contract is with the airline and it is to get us to Belgrade, which obviously they can do, it's not their problem. I don't have any trouble with the airline company.

"I don't blame the Serbian FA because it is the Serbian government that has told them they can't hold the match.

"It's disappointing that no-one decided two weeks ago that it was not safe - the Foreign Office is still saying it's safe to go to Belgrade.

"That may have given us time to go to an alternative venue," he added.