A spokesperson for the Albanian Football Association has refuted the claims of KF Tirana coach Ndubisi Egbo who said he was racially abused during matches and the AFA “did nothing”.
In a statement given to Exit, the AFA said that they take racism very seriously and are “determined to maintain a strict policy against this disturbing issue for our society.”
They said that as diversity is a core part of the football world, the AFA has implemented all necessary rules and disciplinary regulations to fight the phenomenon. They added that the incidents alleged by Egbo were not reported to the competent decisions making bodies by either the match officials or Egbo.
“FA regrets to inform you that these alleged incidents have not been reported to the competent decision-making bodies by the match officials, nor by Mr. Egbo himself. The latter has the duty to report in accordance with the relevant provisions any such infringements by informing in writing, the general secretariat directly,” they wrote.
The FA encouraged Egbo to denounce any incident related to racism and said that he has their full support.
The statement concluded:
“We strongly believe that racism has no place in the field of play and the Albanian Football Association will continue to stand up against any form of discrimination, prejudice or abusive behaviour towards another person based on his/her race, ethnicity or culture.”
Egbo said that during a match he had a banana thrown at him and was spat at. He claimed that the AFA was well aware but didn’t do anything for fear of upsetting fans.
“The officials of the Albanian FA didn’t do anything because it was an away game and the fans were white. Police and security were there- but nobody did anything. They were afraid of the fans there,” he said.
