The Albanian Football Association expresses deep concern and categorically distances from yesterday’s incident which occurred during the match Partizani- Skënderbeu, referring to the slogan displayed at the beginning of the match from the fans of Partizani, a slogan with racist content and an unacceptable message for football. The delegate of AFA intervened, in order to remove the slogan, but still the episode should be condemned.
That slogan is not related to the aim that football has, to unite people in peace and harmony, and cannot be in anyway part of the fans and stand above our national flag. AFA forcefully condemns the language used from the troubled minded that mix football with racism of pseudo-nationalism and assures the public opinion and the true fans that our stadiums will never turn into mediums of conflict and hate , but will be arenas filled with the spirit of solidarity, life and love for football. We stress that we distance from every provocation and we express our conviction that this isolated group and the ill-oriented banner will not ruin the image of true football and fans.
By showing a red card to this dangerous episode for the image of football, we assure that all the necessary measures will be taken so that these episodes to be punished and never be repeated. Underlining that the responsibility for preventing such episodes falls to Partizani, we notify that the judicial commission of AFA will gather urgently and examine the incident, and taking the relevant measures.
