Soccer violence escalates

TIRANA, Nov. 11 – Sulejman Mema, head of the referees’ department of the soccer federation, was attacked violently in Burrel by one of the local soccer managers and was later taken to military hospital in Tirana in a coma. He later recovered. Mema was in the northern town as the federation’s delegate to the game between Burrel and Erzeni of the second category. FSHF has threatened the suspension of the championship if the violence continues. After the Burrel – Erzeni match, which ended 1-1, when the teams were heading for the locker room, Mema was hit in the head with unspecified objects. Police arrested Shpetim Ndreu, 38, member of Burreli sport club, who kicked Mema after the match. Police also accompanied and questioned 15 other persons for violating the public situation and throwing hard objects onto the soccer pitch. Incidents occurred at the end of the match. The club officially asked for a pardon on Monday when its managers and officials from the local authorities met with federation secretary-general Roland Mici.
In another case, players and a vice-manager of Bylis were physically attacked when they played in Polican for the second category championship. They said pistols were shown to them before the match and they also accused the town mayor of participating in this violence against them. Bylis has declared they may boycott the championship.
The federation said they would soon present a new package of rules that would be very harsh on violence in the pitch or stadium. Referees decided to boycott the matches of Burrel and Polican for one year. Burreli was banned from the championship for one year and would start the next season at a lower grade. The club would also pay a 450,000 lek fine. While Polican would not play for a year in its stadium, it would also pay a fine of 300,000 leks.