The Guardian for Albania-Serbia: Anti-dance devices are ready

Thursday's lunch had just passed and Tirana was preparing for a match that could have filled the national stadium at least 10 times. There was no difficulty identifying the Albanian flag, the two-headed black eagle stretching from its centre.

The second flag being lifted has also become commonplace. He kept the word “Autochthonous”, presenting a version of the “map Greater Albania”, which turned a football match into a major diplomatic incident in 2014.

On Friday morning that flag had been replaced with a less stimulating version. Maybe the authorities had entered for a “quiet conversation”. They want to eliminate any possible cause for riots like those that erupted in Belgrade 11 years ago, when a fears lowered the controversial image at Partizan Stadium during a qualifying match for the European Championship between Serbia and Albania. The consequences of that night went beyond the sport, and there was general relief when, in November after, the return match in the Albanian town of Elbasan went through without major incidents.

The faces probably fell on the federations of the two countries in December of last year, when the World Cup qualifying lot 2026 put them face to face. There were eyebrows in the international arena, but there was nothing that prevented them from facing again: despite a long and bloody history whose freshest wounds are from fighting in Kosovo with an ethnic Albanian majority, the nations are not in active conflict. No one had asked to avoid the other. It was inevitable that the problem of relations in the context of football would come back one day.

No source is saving for solution. About 2,000 effective police officers will be deployed for the first match by Group K on Saturday evening, including special forces and anti-terror. Also, sources suggest that as many as 500 civil - clothing police will be among the 22,500 spectators. Foreign fans will not be present. Fearproof devices are being installed in the surrounding area and people warned that their equipment will fall from the sky.

Likely, any attempts at unrest would take another form; the fears were not so common in public life when that small means caused chaos in Belgrade. But the measures taken remind Ismail Morina, the bearded and seemingly harmless crane operator who was declared a national hero for accepting responsibility for the 2014 incident. Although not widely reported then, Morina had an associate who has preferred to stay in the shade.

Morina's move cost: he was arrested for illegal possession of arms before Serbia's 2015 visit, keeping clear of the public's eyes during that match. He was later imprisoned in Croatia and Italy, where he had residence permits, under a Serbian warrant issued via Interpol. He has returned to the Albanian stadiums, rising above the fan's arms in the 2023 Czech match and exchanging fans with goalist Yassir Asani. Recently seen at local matches, but on the eve of Saturday's meeting, his old accounts on social networks have disappeared. If any of his acquaintances know where he is, he doesn't say it. Supposedly, he would not risk approaching the stadium on Saturday.

It will not be the only ultra, past or present, to be kept away. The Albanian Football Federation has not sold group tickets to organised fans, but has distributed them through lots from more than 200,000 applications and has increased prices. This seems to be a deliberate attempt to clean up “the atmosphere; the Red and Black Typhos group, which creates the most vivid view in national matches, reacted sharply and named a “phat organised” in favor of the rich. They will organise an alternative meeting at Tirana's Pyramid, 400m from the stadium, where permission has been given for a giant screen. On the black market, ticket prices have exceeded 1,000 pounds.

The fact that Albania and Serbia will co-operate in the U-21 European Championship in 2027 adds another dimension. If expectations are high for natives on Saturday, so are European football executive body, UEFA. Such ambitious agreement, largely prompted by FSHF president and deputy chairman of the U Executive Committee EFA, Armand Duka, may seem unstable if any incidents occur. Red and Black typhos have expressed opposition to co-organization both in words and visual symbols, and think it has affected their exclusion.

The only distraction during Albania's training Thursday evening were some very eager irrigations, whose presence no one opposed at temperatures over 30 °C. Elseid Hysey, the defender of Lazio, is the only current player to be in Belgrade's chaotic match. “Shouldn't repeat images of past years,” he said. The coach has asked us not to panic for this match. It takes quietness and emotional balance. ”

Sylvinho, the coach in question and one of the closest characters of international football, joked as he played ball with his assistants, but is under pressure to yield results. The same applies to Dragan Stojkovic, his counterpart. England, which completes the fives of the C Group along with Latvia and Andorra, is seen as the secure winner from both camps. Albania and Serbia know that they are fighting for a seat in “play-off” and that the second confrontations between them will be crucial for four months.

At 13:40 local time Friday, Serbia's players arrived at their hotel a mile west of downtown Tirana. Armed officers from RENEA, Albania's anti-terror force, surrounded two buses that had travelled from the airport with escorts. The first step of an operation to last over the weekend went smoothly. If all that remains, perhaps the shadow of October 14, 2014 will finally begin to disappear. /Periscope/