AFF reacts to the violence in the derby: The stadium is suitable, Partizan took measures

The Albanian Football Federation has issued an official statement regarding the events of the derby between Partizan and Tirana at the "Arena e Demave" stadium.

 Like the red club, the Albanian Football Association has insisted that the State Police was to blame for all the incidents, labeling its officials as irresponsible.

Press release from the Albanian Football Federation

The Football Federation wishes to clarify public opinion regarding the behavior and stance of the State Police in the "Abyssnet Superiore" category match, Partizani-Tirana played at the "Arena e Demave" stadium on Sunday.

The Federation has followed all procedures and standard protocol for organizing the match, notifying the State Police through letters and in cooperation with the Partizan club, which was the host, has taken appropriate measures for the security of the match and with the private physical security company.

We would like to bring to your attention that the Law on Sports No. 105/2020 as amended in Article 51 states that "maintaining order and public safety in sports facilities is an institutional duty of the State Police bodies."

In addition to the sports law, a memorandum of cooperation was signed last year between the Football Federation and the Ministry of Interior, which makes it clear that the State Police "takes responsibility for maintaining public order and security in stadiums and sports facilities."

According to this memorandum, the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Albanian Football Association, designs and implements additional security measures to guarantee the safety of all participants, spectators and interested parties, through the State Police.

To return to Sunday's derby, the State Police arrived late at the Partizan stadium, leaving room for the fans to clash outside the stadium, apparently without any plan of measures, which is usually always made public before derby matches. In fact, the Police did not initially take responsibility for escorting the Tirana team to the stadium, which also led to the postponement of the match by 30 minutes.

As it turned out, when the police arrived at the stadium and took control of the situation, doing their job, there were no incidents among the fans. It was also confirmed that the Partizan stadium is suitable to host matches of this level and it is enough for the police to carry out their functional duty assigned to them by law to ensure order in sports facilities.

The Federation expresses regret for the incidents and the injuries to several fans and police officers, but emphasizes that these incidents were the result of a lack of responsibility on the part of police officers.

This is actually not the first case when the State Police refuses to do their duty and cooperate with the clubs and the Federation, as in other cases they have also refused to take over the security of matches for unfounded reasons. And despite the fact that they have refused to do their duty through letters, State Police officers have once again appeared before the matches and have taken control of order and security.

The Federation is ready to cooperate with all institutions for the smooth running of sports activities and competitions. But if this type of approach continues in the future, the Federation is forced to review its position and take extreme measures, up to and including the suspension of national football competitions for an indefinite period.