FLASH
Shkruar nga Eduard Zaloshnja
A second relegation from the category seems highly likely...
In the period 1920-2016, the Tirana Football Club won dozens of national trophies, as well as recorded several international successes (many Tirana football legends have contributed to those successes over the years). But in 2016, disaster struck: For the first time in its football history, KF Tirana was relegated, and had to compete with clubs like Shën Kolli, Fushë Kruja, Gramshi, etc. (with all due respect to them).
After returning to the top flight in 2017, KF Tirana has caused a heart attack among its many fans (approximately 180,000 in Tirana alone, according to a recent poll). Thus, one season KF Tirana is declared champion, and the next it risks being relegated (last year it was saved from relegation thanks to an own goal by Pogradec in the play-off match). And currently, a SECOND relegation from the top flight seems highly likely…
In the last 15 years, the ownership of the club's shares has been divided 66% between Refik Halili and 34% between the Municipality of Tirana. So, practically, Halili has been the main owner of the club in the darkest years of KF Tirana...
In recent days, a short video of a conversation between the President of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, and businessman Samir Mane (whose net worth is estimated at over $1 billion by the American magazine Forbes) was published. In that conversation, Duka encouraged Mane to invest in sponsoring a football club. And on social networks, a discussion has erupted that, in fact, it is about the Tirana Football Club…
Halili has been intransigent until now when it comes to discussing the ownership of KF Tirana shares. But the widely publicized Duka-Mane conversation could be a signal that something is moving. Considering the huge investment expected to be made in the “Selman Stërmasi” stadium and its surroundings, a Halili-Mane deal for the club’s shares could be expected in the future.
Samir Mane may not know much about football, but so far he has demonstrated that he knows how to invest wisely and appoint the right people to execute the projects he undertakes. Perhaps he could actually be the man who can bring a fundamental change to KF Tirana – to bring it back to its glory days, and not compete with clubs like Shën Kolli, Fushë Kruja, Gramshi, etc. (with all due respect to them).
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