
Saturday, November 11, 2023 will remain sad for the entire history of Albanian football. The cardiac arrest on the pitch, which took the life of Raphael Dëamena on the way to the hospital, shocked our entire football-loving opinion.
In fact, this tragic death of the 28-year-old Ghanaian striker echoed throughout the world media. A very difficult moment, as is the loss of the life of a very talented football player, but also an occasion for awareness, for very strict medical checks in our sport and football.
However, yesterday, another event was recorded in our football, but which passed somewhat quietly due to the tragedy in the Rrogozhina stadium. A football referee seriously risked his life in the Fier stadium, where he was hit on the head with hard objects.
Only God saved the field referee Blerim Ziri, who fell unconscious on the ground after the plastic stadium bench, thrown by a nearby fan, hit him on the back of the head. This serious incident, as we said above, happened at the "Loni Papuchiu" Stadium, where the First Category match, Apolonia-Vora 2-1, was taking place.
As can be seen in the video, Blerim Ziri was the fourth referee and at the time of the kick he was between the two benches of the two teams, where it is defined by the regulations. The fans were not satisfied with that, even though they risked the life of the fourth referee, they tried to enter the field.
After destroying the fences of the field, they encountered the police forces, who quickly rushed to prevent the situation from exacerbating the situation. FK Vora about what happened in Fier, through this official release:
"We would like to inform the public about the events that took place in the match with FK Apolonia, played on Saturday (11.11.2023) at the 'Loni Papuciu' stadium, within the 11th week of the First Category. In response to the reaction published by the FK Apolonia team for the match, we emphasize that the leadership and all the staff of our Vora club distance themselves and condemn such actions, where players, technical staff and referees are insulted or attacked in football matches in the country ours.
Your attitude or reaction in some cases is not correct for what happened, because the Apollonia stadium does not meet all the necessary conditions for the insurance of players, staff, managers and fans according to the rules of the AFL, there was a significant lack of security.
As for the fourth referee, Blerim Ziri, who was benched at the end of the match, the bench came from the main stand and not from the friendly section. We invite the FK Apolonia club to be more constructive in the statement it has made"