Kosovo heroes who defied militia kick off new era
IT IS 25 years since Kosovo’s footballers rebelled against ruling Yugoslavia — and finally the tiny Balkan nation is emerging from the sporting wilderness for their first World Cup campaign.
‘It is a special moment, very emotional and very important,’ said Eroll Salihu, general secretary of the Football Federation of Kosovo and one of the former players at the vanguard of their story.
The World Cup adventure begins tomorrow in Finland, but manager Albert Bunjaki is uncertain whether all those named in his 25-man squad will be cleared to play. Ten were awaiting approval from FIFA at the time of selection.
Despite a population under twomillion, the list of potentially eligible players is impressive and includes stars of the Premier League such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami and Adnan Januzaj.
The problem is they play for other national teams, countries which embraced their families when 900,000 Kosovar-Albanians were displaced by war. Many settled in Switzerland and Scandinavia. Others, such as Xhaka’s elder brother, Taulant, represent Albania. These teams are not keen to lose their players.
Shaqiri’s interest flickered, particularly when the Stoke winger was overlooked to be captain of Switzerland before Euro 2016. Arsenal’s Xhaka dropped no such hints and felt compelled to release a statement last week after being branded a traitor by some in Kosovo. He said he does want to play for Kosovo but claimed FIFA forbid it because he represented Switzerland at Euro 2016 — after Kosovo had been granted their FIFA status and a place in the World Cup. FIFA refuse to discuss individual cases.
‘We are fortunate,’ said Salihu. ‘We have good young players and our strategy is to a build a team for the next six to eight years, not only this qualification process.’
Salihu and Bunjaki were playing for FC Pristina in September 1991 when their players defied the state and split from the Yugoslav league. Militia disrupted the rebel games, which became an emblem of Kosovo’s independent spirit, while the Yugoslav FA wouldn’t release registration documents to let players move abroad.
When the anthem plays in Turku tomorrow, such images will flash back through minds of Salihu, Bunjaki and FA president Fadil Vokrri, arguably Kosovo’s greatest player.
The country can celebrate another victory in the quest for recognition. Regardless of results they are building a football future.