TIRANA, Oct. 8 – Albanian authorities have taken tough security measures for Thursday’s European Championship qualifier against Serbia, fearing a repeat of nationalist violence that marred the first leg.
About 1,500 police will be in and around the stadium in Elbasan, 50 kilometers south of Tirana. Traffic will be banned near the venue, bars in the city center will be closed and fans will have to show identification and undergo searches before they are admitted. Traffic will also be banned in downtown Tirana. People are asked to avoid using cars that day in Elbasan. Residents of the flats surrounding the stadium there will not be allowed to have guests for the match.
Fans entering the stadium have their names printed on the ticket and they may enter it only after showing the ID card too.
Last year’s game in Belgrade was abandoned after a drone with an Albanian nationalist flag flew over the field, prompting a brawl among players and a pitch invasion. Albania was awarded the match by forfeit 3-0.
Albania is third in Group I with 11 points from six matches. A victory would almost mean practically direct qualification for the Euro 2016, a historic step the tiny western Balkan country never reached it before.
A group of 70 Serb students will follow the match and they will be sheltered by Albanian partners in an effort to establish close friendship among the peoples of the former “Balkan powder keg neighbors.”
Serb officials have said they will abandon the match if there is any incident. They complained that during their trip from the airport to the hotel in Tirana someone threw a stone at their bus.
No one was hurt and police detained the 14-year-old boy who threw the stone at the bus on Durres Street, which was closed to traffic as a security measure at the time.
An advertisement broadcast for the last week calls on Albanians to respect the guest and their hymn and support their team in a sportive manner.
“We invite you to respect the match, to respect the opponent, to respect our dream,” says Football Federation President Armand Duka, referring to the historic moment if Albania would be qualified for the Euro 2016 finals, the first time for the tiny Western Balkan country.
A concert with Albanian and Serb singers scheduled to be held a day ahead the match at the government building garden was cancelled because the Serbian singers refused to attend as Kosovo singers had also been invited.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has formally invited his Serb counterpart Aleksandar Vucic to the match, but Vucic declined after several phone calls because he said the match had become too politicized.
Albania is third in the group with 11 points from six matches. Portugal leads with 15 points, followed by Denmark with 12 but having played an additional game. The top two qualify automatically with the third-place team entering a playoff.
