The President of the AFA, Armand Duka, was a guest this Tuesday morning on the show “Dita Jonë” on A2 CNN with hosts Kristi Martiro and Aulona Minga. Through a live connection, President Duka spoke about the “Golden Ball” ceremony organized by the AFA the previous evening at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet. An evening that honored the boys and girls who contributed to a year of football in Albania.
Among other things, the head of Albanian football’s governing body also spoke about the sponsorship law and the return of betting, while mentioning that he has asked Prime Minister Edi Rama for football and sports to receive financial support from the state.
President Duka also spoke about the European tour of the national team coach, Sylvinho, who is closely monitoring players that he might call up for the World Cup qualifiers, while also mentioning the players that the Albanian national team is focusing on.
The “Golden Ball” ceremony – It was emotional, especially for us. I hope it was something good, something different that helps promote our game even more. From an organizational perspective, it was a more beautiful and detailed event. Organized down to the last detail. This comes as a result of experience and cooperation with the right people who know how to make the spectacle even better. The AFA’s staff has worked hard and put in a lot of effort for this spectacle, but what we know best is organizing a football match. We’ve found the right people to blend and organize a great sports spectacle. I believe we succeeded, and it was truly better compared to previous editions. Even the name we gave it, “Golden Ball,” was chosen with the sole purpose of promoting and thanking those who contributed to a year of football in Albania. Our boys and girls deserve to celebrate, and yesterday we all celebrated together.
The “Golden Ball” award for Bekim Balaj – Bekim is an example to follow, and that is the goal of the evening. Footballers should have objectives, and people should follow them as role models to become like them. Bekim deserves it, as do all the footballers who received awards last night. Whether they play in Albania or abroad, what matters is that they play football. They should play well and raise their level. The championship has the responsibility to elevate the standard.
The competition for the winners – As you saw, the vote for the best player of the year for the national team, and in the same transparent way, all votes have been cast. The winners were chosen by the football actors themselves. To be honest, I don’t know the exact results, whether there was any difference among the coaches or the “Golden Ball” award. Evaluations are subjective. What matters is that everyone is respected.
Did journalists vote? – Yes, they voted for the 2024 team of the year. In the “Golden Ball” vote, coaches and team captains from the “Abissnet Superiore” league voted.
The Sponsorship Law? – In my speech last year, I told the Prime Minister that every time I have the chance to speak with him, I will request his contribution to the sponsorship law. I wanted to acknowledge his presence in the hall. Asking for something that hasn’t been achieved is certainly a form of criticism, but I didn’t want to focus on criticism, only on gratitude and appreciation for everyone who has contributed. Don’t think I haven’t raised this issue outside the screen or protocol. I’ve asked again and I continue to insist. It’s something very important; football, and all sports in Albania, need financial support.
Every person, every politician, starting with Edi Rama and everyone else who believes that football should generate enough revenue to sustain itself—yes, the higher-level clubs can produce and sustain themselves, but how can small towns like Erseka, Maliqi, Puka, or Tropoja generate enough to develop football? It’s clear that financial support is needed, and the government must find a way to provide it. What we have proposed is based on the experience of other countries; we haven’t invented anything new. We have proposed what almost every country in Europe does, what our fellow Albanians in Kosovo are doing, and in fact, Kosovo will surpass Albania in this regard. In terms of club-level football, Kosovo has truly surpassed Albania.
This is the only area where Kosovo is ahead, the sponsorship law. We have excellent organization overall, perhaps the best in the region. We have sufficient infrastructure for professional level football, but not enough for all the players who want to play the sport. Anyone who speaks against the sponsorship law is ill-intentioned, doesn’t support football, doesn’t support sports, and doesn’t want us to be independent and make positive progress. I sincerely hope, and I told the Prime Minister yesterday, do it now before the elections, why should we wait? The budget for sports in Albania is 1 million euros, and unfortunately, since 2002, there has been zero allocated to football from this budget. With the exception of the last two years, where some funds were given to football in a somewhat spontaneous manner, it’s minimal compared to what we organize.
Last night, in my speech, I mentioned only two figures. In Albania, the Football Association organized 14,670 football matches in 2024 across 154 national and regional championships. We have around 10 national teams that represent us, and do you know how much financing is needed for these? Just for one team’s trip to England, our cost is 250,000 euros. How would a club manage if it were to travel to England? They’d go with three stops, poor accommodation, and would inevitably perform poorly. We have a reality where, since 1992 when we changed the system, up until 2024, the budget has been almost zero.
It is true that we have made progress, and we have changes in infrastructure, partly thanks to investments from municipal budgets and the executive, not only in football but also in other sports.
However, more is needed if we expect to have many people playing football. In Albania, 23,180 football players are active. Only 22 people can train on one field, so calculate for yourselves how many more fields are needed in our country. There are indeed more than before, but they are insufficient for the reality in which we live, especially in the capital. The capital has an extraordinary shortage of sports infrastructure. Other cities are, in some ways, better off than Tirana.
Return of Betting? – I want to clarify one thing and repeat what I said when I asked for sports betting to be legalized. I did not say they should be opened. Sports betting in Albania has never been closed, it has continued to exist. What I said is that, since this activity is taking place, with our activity being involved, meaning bets are being placed on sports, then why shouldn’t we receive a financial share? Since this activity is happening, let it be legalized and formalized.
To my knowledge, the law has been approved, but it has been distorted from the promise and what was discussed at the beginning. I don’t know what kind of nonsense it is that if a betting advertisement is on a jersey, it corrupts sports. It’s populism created by some small people within the political community who sell populism, pretending to be honest, but they are not. An advertisement doesn’t change anything. If there’s no intention for betting, then stop it, but stop it. Betting should not take place, and taxes should not be paid, but if taxes are paid, sports should not benefit from them at all. There have been distortions, but it has not yet been materialized.
Sylvinho’s tour in Europe. Are there any new names? Gruda, Rocco Vata? – Our policy is to bring in every kind of football player, although sometimes this conflicts with the Football Association of Kosovo. We have our doors open to any Albanian playing football, regardless of where they live or have lived. There are many players who offer themselves at different ages to play with the National Team, but there are also a few whom we try to convince to be part of the National Team.
One of them is Gruda, who has played with the youth teams of Germany. We have asked him to join Albania, but at this moment there has been no positive response. However, we remain open for him to become a player for the Albanian National Team. The same goes for other players, such as Vata, Hasa, Ibrahimović, who have the quality to be part of the National Team. We have not been successful with these names I mentioned. We have contacted them, starting with me personally, along with the administrative and technical staff, Sylvinho, etc., but without success.
There are also other names, younger ones, some of whom have joined our teams. One very talented player for me, who plays for Bayern’s youth teams, Yll Gashi, is a potential for Albania. Ivan Balliu is very happy that he has decided to play for the Albanian National Team, and I think it is the best decision he has made in his career. In all the meetings I’ve had with parents or players, I’ve told them the same thing: If you decide to play for Albania, you will be making the right choice, and I don’t say this from the position of the president of the Association, but even if I were a parent myself.
I remember a conversation between Sylvinho’s assistant, Pablo Zabaleta, and a player in England, where he said: I have played football at high levels, I have played football for Manchester City, I’ve made money from football, but the real football is what I played for Argentina. There is no greater feeling than playing for your national team. Apart from this, without selling patriotism, even from a pragmatic point of view, the chances and opportunities to play in a team with less competition, like Albania, are greater than with Germany, Italy, or France. In the end, an athlete’s career is not compromised if they play for Albania or Germany, on the contrary, they can be helped more because they have more space.
I don’t believe that Lorik Cana’s involvement with Albania has damaged his career, on the contrary, he has had a very successful career and has left a mark on the history of Albanian and European national football. Other players, like our current captain, Berat Gjimshiti, who started his career in Switzerland, are also very happy to play for Albania. Different opinions are shared, some say that if a player has the opportunity to play for Italy or Germany, why would they play for Albania? For me, this is wrong, the first choice should be Albania for every player. I will also reveal a conversation I had with the player Ylli Gashi and his father in Munich a month ago, where I told them that if you don’t decide that Ylli should play for Albania, at least let him play for Kosovo, so that when he celebrates, he celebrates in Albanian and when he curses, he curses in Albanian.
The “Golden Ball” was won by two players from Vllaznia, one for men and one for women. Fans’ comments – I don’t believe that any fan base or club is satisfied with the president of the Association. All the clubs and fan bases think they deserve a little more, but in reality, they get what they deserve based on their sporting contributions. I have been and still am a fan of Shkodra’s football, even though the reason I became a supporter of Vllaznia started from a Cup final in Kavajë, but also because football was born in Shkodra, for both the boys and the girls.
Now, Vllaznia can become champions with their own contributions. They are on the right track in this championship, as they were last year, and they can achieve it. There are many factors for becoming champions, both with the national team and with the clubs.
I’ve heard that the ‘Final 4’ scheme will be reviewed. Will this be the last season that this format will be applied? – This is a kind of innovation, carefully thought out by both Albanian and foreign experts, and as I have explained before, with the goal of adding more excitement to the championship, increasing suspense, and raising interest in the stands. No scheme in football is beyond criticism, and no scheme is the best. We need to wait and try it. We said the same thing in the early years when Albanian football moved from 18 teams to 10, but the majority of opinions think that the 10-team format is the right one for Albania. We need to wait and see the results.
Do you feel a responsibility towards the clubs to advise them on working with marketing to attract fans to the stadium? – The presence of fans in the stadium is a topic and analysis in itself, with several factors that either increase or decrease their presence.
Certainly, all the Albanian experts at the Albanian Football Association, as well as at the European level, are doing their utmost to assist the clubs, collaborate with them, and help them promote football better, in order to generate more interest and presence in the stands.
Life is more diverse: the fact that matches are broadcast live on TV makes some think they can watch them more comfortably on the couch than in the stadium. It’s perhaps a cultural issue because we mostly go to watch the team when it wins, but this needs to be considered in every case. If we look at England, at the end of the season, when a team is mathematically relegated, their fans are present and applaud them. It’s not only about the level of play but also our overall culture, which I believe we need to change day by day. Those responsible for changing this culture are us, the football community, including the federation and the clubs. Perhaps even the event we held is one of the elements aimed at increasing interest.
Ceferin will not run for president of UEFA? – It is true that not only I, but the entire football community has been more active in European football, and this is shown by all the activities that are entrusted to Albania, not because of friendship, but because of the organizational capabilities of the Football Association’s administration. We have many members of our community who contribute to European football, the referees you saw last night continue to officiate in group matches in Europe, and the delegates who lead European matches and activities. I am happy about this. I am one of those who has lobbied for Ceferin to continue for another term, not just because of the good personal relations or the Football Association’s relationship with UEFA, but for the stability he has brought to the institution, the positive changes, and the support he has received. I hope to convince him to continue.
