Albania football postpones election of top leaders

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian Football Federation has postponed the election of its new head following a dispute with one of its regional associations.

FSHF head Armand Duka said on Monday that following “a complicated process with debates and accusation, and some court verdicts ... which should be respected, I would propose and ask the assembly that the last point of election of the new FSHF leading posts for president and executive committee members be considered in another day.”

The election was scheduled for Wednesday, when Duka was going to seek a sixth four-year term.

But an Albanian court on Monday suspended Duka and two other senior officials from their posts.

The federation has been in a dispute with the Tirana city hall, a shareholder of one of the main member associations, and which accuses it of corruption and manipulation of the voting process.

Albania has eight regional associations which and are eligible to vote in the election. City officials play an active role in Tirana’s regional association.

Duka said Wednesday’s assembly will go ahead as scheduled without an election, with UEFA and FIFA representatives present according to federation spokesman Andi Vercani.

This month a three-member UEFA delegation visited Albania to evaluate the electoral process amid concerns about political interference.

Its report is in the hands of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and the federation as agreed in the talks between them.

During the visit, the UEFA president also committed to staging the inaugural final of the third-tier Europa Conference League in Tirana on May 25.

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