World’s volleyball association suspends Albanian over match with Kosovo
The International Volleyball Federation, FIVB, has suspended Albania's national association for organizing a match with Kosovo’s unrecognized volleyball federation.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, July 17, 2008
The International Volleyball Federation, FIVB, has suspended Albania's national association for organizing a match with Kosovo's unrecognized volleyball federation.
The European Volleyball Federation, the Balkan Volleyball Association and the Volleyball Association of Serbia have all been notified of the suspension.
The move means that the Albanian national volleyball organization head Leonard Tase has been suspended, while this country's team will not be able to take part in the events organized this year by the Balkan Volleyball Association.
Meanwhile, Serbia's Sport and Youth Minister Snezana Samardzić-Markovic denied news coming out of Pristina that "Kosovo's football squad would play a friendly with Brazil's Olympics team".
"As long the UN does not recognize Kosovo - and that will never happen - we have an argument with the international [sports] associations," she said.
The Albanian language media in Priština reported yesterday that the game would allegedly take place on July 25 in Switzerland.
But Secretary-General of the Serbian FA (FSS) Zoran Lakovic said FIFA's Development Program representative Eva Pasquier informed him that Pristina did indeed send such a request, "but that it was not taken into consideration".
Meantime, the FSS has sent a letter to their Brazilian counterparts informing them that Kosovo is not a FIFA member, and that its teams cannot play international games without an FSS approval.
