Albania apologize for fan behavior in Italy

The Albanian football federation have released a public apology and banned the fan group that forced their World Cup qualifier with Italy to be suspended.

During a period in the second half, the referee had to call the teams off the field because a series of fireworks, flares and smoke-bombs were raining down.

They were all coming from a small group in the Albania section of the stands at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo and the suspension lasted nine minutes.

The Albanian Federation released a statement firmly condemning the incidents and apologising to “the teams, our colleagues, fans and all Italian citizens.

“We completely dissociate ourselves from this unacceptable behaviour.”

Above all, it noted the particular fan group will be held accountable and no longer allowed any tickets to Albania matches.

Italy eventually won the match 2-0 with goals from Daniele De Rossi and Ciro Immobile.