President of AFA, Armand Duka, spoke to the media following the draw ceremony for the “Final 4,” which determined the matchups: Egnatia vs. Partizani and Vllaznia vs. Dinamo City.
The head of Albanian football thanked everyone for their extraordinary contribution during the regular season and wished the four teams the best of luck in the final phase.
President Duka also revealed that the well-known international referee, Szymon Marciniak, will officiate the final match on May 12.
“The ‘Final 4’ draw concludes 36 truly hard-fought weeks, with competition lasting until the very end. It has been a beautiful race, producing a fiercely contested ranking among all 10 participating teams. I would like to thank the players for their contributions throughout this edition, for the emotions they provided to all the fans in the stadium stands and to viewers on RTSH.
I want to thank the club officials and technical staff as well. I wish the four finalist teams the very best performances. We should enjoy the Final Four, the spectacle that the teams will provide. We need to see the results and then prepare everything for the next season.
A foreign referee in the final? This is something widely discussed, as refereeing is a very important factor in the competition. I am convinced that refereeing in Albania is at the highest level and can meet the demands of Albanian football. This is also shown by the contribution of Albanian referees in European competitions, even up to the group stages.
In the Final Four, the four FIFA referees we have will officiate. All four will be available for the first semi-finals. The draw will determine which referee will take charge of the first match; that referee will not officiate in the second semi-final. The draw also determines the other referees’ assignments. Seven referees are needed in total, with the others taking different roles. For the final, we have invited one of the best referees in the world, the Polish referee Marciniak, who will oversee the final match to minimize any doubts about the winner,” said President Duka in his statement to the media after the “Final 4” draw.
