KOSOVO football bosses are going to extraordinary lengths to make England players and fans feel welcome. There are billboards dotted around Pristina, including one of Raheem Sterling with a message in Albanian which translates as “Welcome brother”. And the tiny Balkan country plan to display images of poppies at the stadium tomorrow in tribute to […]
KOSOVO football bosses are going to extraordinary lengths to make England players and fans feel welcome.
There are billboards dotted around Pristina, including one of Raheem Sterling with a message in Albanian which translates as “Welcome brother”.
And the tiny Balkan country plan to display images of poppies at the stadium tomorrow in tribute to British soldiers.
Our Boys were part of an international coalition that forced Serbia to withdraw from the territory following a bitter conflict in the late 1990s.
And on top of all that, the Kosovo team have let England stay at their favourite hotel and moved to a different one.
The Kosovan FA’s president, Agim Ademi, said: “We are always thankful for what you did for our country.
“We want to use this match to say thank you to England and Britain.
“Regarding qualification, it does not have any effect for us but it is still a huge sporting event for the country.
“This is an important match because of the political relationship between ourselves and Britain, who were one of our main helpers during and after the war.
“We have many people living in England.
“We have done our best to give you some very good, famous people from the music world like Rita Ora and Dua Lipa — and you also have Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri there.”
Kosovo’s players suffered more racist abuse in their 2-1 loss to Czech Republic on Thursday, a defeat which means they can only qualify for Euro 2020 via the play-offs.
Ademi added: “We are always against racism but we want to show to the world on Sunday there is no place for hate.
“We have felt war and so much racism. We do not want anyone else to have to go through that.
“This match will be a message that every football game should be fun. I want to say to the England people this place is your home. You will feel safe.
“I also want to congratulate England for qualifying.”
Kosovo were racially abused in Bulgaria during their 3-2 win in June. And they suffered more problems in Pilsen.
Ademi, whose team lost 5-3 to England back in September, added: “The racism this season is a surprise.
“We felt this on Thursday. We scored and then heard many racist things.”
