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| Armando Duka in a press release |
Tirana prosecutor's office has registered a criminal proceeding against the president of the Albanian Football Federation (AFF), Armando Duka, regarding the administration of a fund of 1.3 million euros that UEFA has transferred to AFF for the Tirana Football Club. The Prosecution has filed charges of abuse of office and Theft through abuse of office against Mr. Duka.
Suspicions of abuse of UEFA funds. The prosecution launches an investigation against the head of AFF.
A material of the police economic crime sector, against some developments in the Albanian Football Federation, has set in motion the Tirana Prosecutor's Office. The latter, finding in the report, elements of criminal offenses, has decided to launch an investigation against the President of the Federation Armando Duka.
Everything seems to have to do with a fund of 1.3 million euros that Uefa has passed to the Federation as funds that belonged to the Tirana club for the participation of his team in European football competitions, according to Albanian media.
The problem arose because due to some outstanding debts to third parties, the accounts of the Tirana club were blocked by the bailiff. The suspicions are that the Federation, in order to favor the club, has transferred the funds of Uefa, in favor of "KF Tirana", through other accounts. For this reason, the Prosecution has filed charges of "Abuse of duty" and "Theft through abuse of office" against the president of the Albanian Football Federation, Mr. Duka.
Mr. Duka has often been at the center of criticism and accusations about the way he has run the Football Federation, due to the many problematic phenomena that have accompanied this sport. He has been in charge of the football government since 2002, for 5 consecutive terms, and seeks to get a new mandate in the new elections scheduled after a few weeks. Elections which are being preceded by strong controversies, and accusations of manipulation of the electoral process, by the candidates in the race.
In recent days, a strong clash has started between the Federation and the Municipality of Tirana, which is a shareholder in the football club Tirana. The Federation made public today an audio recording of a meeting held the day before by the Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj with members of the Regional Football Association, where in addition to an inappropriate vocabulary, Mr. Veliaj raised serious charges against Mr. Duka.
The Federation described the meeting as a "scandalous political interference in the affairs of the football community", as the Assembly of the association elects delegates who vote for the head of the Federation.