The Gala of Friday held at the Palace of Brigades in the capital was entirely dedicated to the ambassadors of Albanian sport. Awards and assessments were given during the event that gathered on Friday evening, football personalities, high rank officials of Albanian Football Association (President Duka, vice-president Libohova and General Secretary, Shulku), sportsman with great contributions and many others. The nominations were announced in September, and culminated with the awards ceremony.
Chairman of the jury was President Duka himself, which handed the main award ‘’Albanian Sports Ambassador’’, to the former captain of the national team of Albania, Lorik Cana. The nominees for this award were Lorik Cana, Igli Tara and Edvin Murati, three former players of Albania. In his welcoming speech, president Duka underlined: ‘’ This is an event that highlights the contributions in the field of sports. We had difficulties to select the winner, because all the nominees have their weight and potential. However, such event brings out the best values of sport, and such initiative should be welcomed and praised’’, declared Mr. Duka, that handed to Lorik Cana the main award of the evening.
This evening reserved a commemorative moment accompanied by a special award to the legend of Kosovo football , Mr. Fadil Vokrri, that passed away a couple of months ago. The award was given to the son of Mr. Vokrri by the deputy minister of Education and Sports, Mr. Kostandin Shkurti. Other awards went to the boxer Luan Krasniqi, that with a noble act shared this award (online voting) with Mr. Haki Doku, another nominee. A ‘’Career Award’’ went to Mr. Igli Tare, Lazio’s Sports Director, while the mother of the football player Ansi Agolli retrieved the award from the former manager of the national team, Gianni De Biasi. Awards went to other sportsman, the goalkeeper Tomas Strakosha, Izmir Smajlaj, Erblina Bici and Elizabeta Karabolli.
Present in this event were representatives of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Tirana, the Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj, representatives of the business and media and other personalities. ‘’Albanian Sports Ambassador’’ honored in the first edition, sportsman who have contributed to a positive image for Albania, through their performance outside the country. The awards are related to the support of the social projects in Albania and in Kosovo. The aim of this initiative is to inspire people and to make positive changes through sports. The monetary value for this award will go for the support of three projects approved by the Presidency of “ Albanian Sports Ambassador’’ that are related with the Chess Project in Schools and the creation of the Chess Academy, The Project of Foundation 5 , for children’s football and the project ‘’ ‘No’ to blood feud, ‘yes’ to life’’ in serve of the fight against the phenomenon of blood feud.
