Kosovo-Israel match to be held with fans

Twenty-eight days after the initial plan, 22 Kosovo and Israel footballers will be trampled on in the green field of the “stadium, Fadil Vokri” in Pristina, on November 12th.

In their favour there will be about 14,000 fans if all tickets are sold.

That the match will take place with the presence of fans confirmed to Radio Free Europe President of the Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) Agim Ademi.

“After meeting with U EFA [European Football Framework], the decision is made for the match to be held with fans”, Ademi said.

He added that all measures envisioned with UEFA regulations will be taken so that the match is not followed by any possible incident.

The possibility that the match will take place without fan presence was rumoured as Kosovo could be fined and punished by U EFA, if there is an incident in the stadium because of the war between Israel and Hamas the militant group controlling the Gaza Strip.

Several marches were organised in Kosovo in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The November 12th match (November 12th) under the qualifications for the 2024 European Championships was originally scheduled to take place about a month ago, on October 15th. But it was postponed because of the war in the Middle East.

People who had bought tickets to watch the match between Kosovo and Israel had returned the money a few days after the match was postponed.

But FFK president told REL that the tickets will again go on sale “within one or two hours”.

Ademi said it is up to the Kosovo Police to take the necessary security measures so that no incidents are allowed. Kosovo Police, U The EFA has not answered REL questions concerning the security measures to be taken.

Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to Kosovo Tamara Ziv expressed satisfaction with, as she said, the co-ordination done so far with Kosovo authorities for the successful “realisation of the” match.

“We are working in close co-ordination with all relevant authorities in Kosovo on match security issues and on the welfare of our players”, she told Radio Free Europe.

Can there be reactions to the war between Israel and Hamas?

The match at “Fadil Vokri” will be the first game for the National of Israel since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The militant group, declared terrorist by the United States and several other powers, attacked Israel on October 7th, killing over 1,400 people and taking hostages of another 239.

Israel has responded with a massive air strike campaign at the Gaza Strip.

The number of Palestinians killed in this enclave has already exceeded 10,000, according to the Health Ministry there.

Such events have sparked protests in various countries in the world, including Kosovo.

So far, two protests have been held in support of Palestinians in Pristina and another in Prizren.

What if political messages appear in the stadium?

UEFA regulations determine that for the sake of this match, the Kosovo Football Federation would be responsible.

In the event of an incident with political messages displayed in the stands, Kosovo would be punished for it.

UEFA regulations determine that for showing political and racist messages, sentences can start from a fine to lower points and exclusion from a race.

That has already happened with Romania. The Romanian Federation has been fined 52,000 euros and sentenced to a match without fans from U EFA, since in the match against Kosovo on September 12th, a banner has been unveiled with the message “Kosovo is Serbia”, and racist calls have been heard.

What do fans say on social networking?

News published over the last few days on the social network, Facebook, that the match could take place without fan presence, has attracted numerous reactions.

Many contain hate speech, and some call for Kosovo players to boycott the match against Israel.

However, a number of commentators also have supported the idea of the match being held without fans, so that the Kosovo National cannot be penalised for any incidents or political message that may appear during the match.

What's this fight worth?

The match between Kosovo and Israel takes place within the framework of the I qualifying Group for the European Championship. In this group, Romania, Switzerland, Belarus, and Andorra compete for qualifications in EURO 2024. Only the first two teams reach the qualifications.

EURO 2024 matches will take place in various stadiums across Germany from 14 June to 14 July next year. Kosovo has never qualified to a European champion.