The Albanian National Team will play the next two matches for the qualifiers of the "Qatar 2022" World Cup in Elbasan and not in Tirana's Air Albania stadium. The cause has become the grass renovation project that seems to be taking longer than anticipated.
The Albanian Football Federation (AFF) announced today that the two matches of September will be played at the "Elbasan Arena".
The AFF said that the relocation is "unforeseen" and is related to the investment in the renovation of the field. From Saturday, the AFF will start selling tickets for Hungary and San Marino.
Qualifying matches for the World Cup "Qatar 2022" to be played in September:
Poland - Albania, September 2, 2021, "PGE Narodowy", Warsaw.
Albania - Hungary, September 5, 2021, "Elbasan Arena", Elbasan.
Albania - San Marino, September 8, 2021, "Elbasan Arena", Elbasan.
Results of Albania's past matches in the qualifiers of the "Qatar 2022" World Cup:
Andorra 0 - 1 Albania, March 25, 2021, "Stadio Olimpico", Serravalle.
Albania 0 - 2 England, March 28, 2021, "Air Albania Stadium", Tirana.
San Marino 0 - 2 Albania, March 31, 2021, "Estadi Nacional", Andorra.
The national stadium "Air Albania" was built through a public-private partnership between the government, the AFF, and the company Alb-Star. The project cost tens of millions of euros.
The sports facility was inaugurated in November 2019. A few months later the grass of the field proved problematic, causing the AFF to hire a Turkish company to renovate it.
In the period 4 December - 28 March, the stadium was closed and the field grass was replaced from natural to a hybrid type in order to be ready for the match with England.
The plan was that after the end of the football season, the complete change of grass to artificial grass would continue in order for Albania to hold the September matches there.