22 October, 2014–Albanian Football Association (AFA) seeks to inform the media and public opinion on the steps that it has taken in regard to the files presented to UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB), which will meet tomorrow in Switzerland.
Following the publication of accusations that Albania faces, AFA, under the guidance of its legal counselor Haxhia & Hajdari, has started gathering material evidence and preparing its defense. For the drafting of legal defense arguments and legal consultation were contracted two well-known foreign law firms with experience in sports law: Littleton Chambers (London) and Levy Kaufmann-Kohler (Geneve).
The drafting of the defense material, a summary of which can be found below, has been completed and handed in to UEFA on Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, within the shortest time possible. It highlights the fact that during the Serbia-Albania match of 14 October, 2014, Albanian players were subject to physical and verbal abuse, accompanied by racist chants. In regard to the racist chants, on Monday a separate request was presented to UEFA, calling for the inclusion of these chants in the investigation and list of accusations against Serbia. All these violations can be proven through film evidence and medical reports, which have been presented to UEFA. Albanian players have not refused to return to the pitch, as it has been alleged, but continuing the match has been made impossible due to physical and psychological injuries endured by our players, who were attacked by out of control Serbian supporters, security guards and, in some isolated cases, even by Serbian players.
As the report of UEFA Security Officer points out, during this match there were serious violations, such as:
* Lack of essential security in the pitch
* Rowdy and out of control supporters
* Poor stadium management
* Degeneration of the situation, resulting in police “not being able to guarantee the safety of the players and referees”.
* As a result of the aforementioned, it is clear that there was no guarantee for equal conditions for the continuance of the match.
Based on articles 21(1), 6(1) and 21(4a) of Disciplinary Regulations, AFA has requested for the dismissal of the violation of which AFA stands accused and to award the 3-0 forfeit result to Albania.
In regards to the accusation for the illegal banner that appeared above the pitch, it should be dismissed for the following reasons:
* In the stadium there were no Albanian supporters, apart from the players and the delegation.
* The flying banner came from the south end, behind the goalie, an area with Serbian supporters who were not searched by the Serbian police, taking into consideration that they were able to bring inside the stadium political flags, hard items and a barrel.
* For all of the above reasons it is impossible to determine the author of this incident or the fact that he is from Albania. (The territory depicted in the banner showed an area bigger than Republic of Albania’s territory.)
In conclusion, Albanian Football Association informs that UEFA’s decision can be appealed with Court of Arbitration for Sports. AFA also wants to express its gratitude to all of those professionals that have offered their assistance and readiness for representation of this case. A special thank you also goes to all the football fans that have helped with the collection of video and photographic material.
