ALBANIA

Gazmend Kapplani, AIM Tirana

Events in Albanian sport deserve an analysis. In Albania, a country which, according to sociologists is increasingly xenophilic (even xenomanic) and suffers from an identity crisis, the national soccer team has suddenly demonstrated a super-ethocentric sentiment. The precise date of when this happened can even be determined: Oct. 11, 2000, when it played a match with Greece. On the eve of the game, Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta promised the players they would get US$10,000 each in the event of victory. This is an enormous sum for a country as poor as Albania! And that was not all: throughout Oct. 11, Meta wore the national team's dress... In order to understand the behavior of state officials, however, one should bear in mind that the match took place shortly before the second round of local elections. It was suggested that if the national team lost the match, it would be much worse than the economic crisis of the 1990s, when Albania sunk into the most horrifying chaos in its history. Many fans, and particularly the mainstream media, spoke strongly against Greece, showing how proud they were of being Albanians... ("Eight Years of Patience for a Day of Vengeance," said a headline in the newspaper Klan, which also added: "Albania's injured pride was finally vindicated at Qemal Stafa Stadium; along with thousands of emigres from Omonia Square; "Another goal by the red-and-black team was a reminder that the chalice of vengeance has to be consumed in full," reported the paper Koha Johe). On the other side of the border, in Greece, the magnitude of ethnic delirium matched the one in Albania. This November, a special game is scheduled to take place in Tirana -- the Balkans against the rest of the world. It will be interesting to see how fans will respond to the fact that "enemies" will play together, in a single team, and wearing the same shirts.