On Saturday (June 7) at the stadium "Arena Kombetare" in Tirana will host a match between Serbia and Albania. The Albanian Football Association announced that it expects the fans to support the national team in a sporting manner and not to perceive this game as a "war".
Nor the coach of the Serbian national football team, Dragan Stojkovic, does not expect any incidents at this match, reports Radio Free Europe (RSE).
Earlier this week, he said that the game against Albania is very important for the Serbian national team's path to the World Cup.
"It is just a football match, they are our sports friends, someone with whom we will organize the European Youth Championship. We are going there to compete in a sporting way, without any interest in political issues," he said.
Back on May 17, at a meeting in Niš, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told Stojković: "In June or July, you play there against Albania, to beat them."
High-risk event
Since this match was declared a high-risk sporting event on Friday (June 6), the Serbian footballers went to the hotel under the escort of the anti-terrorist police unit. Along with the police officers, the most modern equipment will be on the field in order to reduce the risk to a minimum.
The long-time sports journalist who reports from tonight's game also believes in fair play on and off the field, reports RTS.
"According to the official information of the Government, there will be no helicopters, there will be other measures such as anti-drone devices. I have seen such security measures before, I remember the previous match with Serbia in Elbasan in 2015. The difference is only in the numbers - now we have about 2.000 policemen and security service agents due to the great importance of the match. But it is not for sports, but for political reasons. I think everything will pass peacefully, it is just football," says Nertan Prifti, journalist.
That it is more than football is shown by the interest of the fans - about 22.000 people applied to buy 200.000 tickets, and the winners were determined by lottery.
UEFA previously punished Serbia, so only the home team will have support from the stands.
Source: RSE/RTS
