Author: Klevis Paloka
Nothing is left of the Albanian capital with its fields and the space between the palaces. Today's Tirana is the city where buildings are built in the blink of an eye. For some, this is urbanization and galloping growth, as the capital attracts citizens from the districts like a magnet, rapidly increasing the population. For others, the city that should have been. Nostalgic people do not only associate it with history, originality, but also with sport.
In the fields where the children of that generation used to play in the sports centers, there are now palaces. The legend of November 17 (Tirana), Agustin Kola says that his heart hurts when he sees that the field where he took his first steps as a professional footballer has today turned into a palace. "It hurts me a lot when I see that the field where I played my first matches as a footballer today has disappeared and turned into a palace. I'm not even against palaces, churches, mosques, but don't let the fields spoil you", this is how the 62-year-old begins his story, who played his first match as a football player on the field near the Technological School, which no longer exists. Kola was connected to football at the age of 13 and with it to the field where he played his first matches.
But apart from him, Kola also lists some great footballers who have come out of this field, but also the concern that he has, that many fields have been destroyed, and that the situation is getting worse and worse.
"We started football on these fields, on the field near the Technological School where I also started, great football players like Arben Minga, Sulejman Mema, Millan Baçi, Andrea Marko, Shkëlqim Muça and many others have appeared. This situation is getting worse and worse, as all the fields that were before the 90s have turned into palaces, or even the few that are left have been left in oblivion and are heading towards degradation.", continues with his confession, the former football player of the Albanian national team.
According to Kola, children nowadays have nowhere to play.
"Today, children have nowhere to play, because even the small fields or flower gardens that used to be in the palaces have now turned to brown. Before the 90s, all children engaged in various sports, such as football, basketball, volleyball, athletics, circus, while now they have coffee as their first alternative. What I don't understand is why the sports fields of the schools are not opened in the afternoons for the children to go, but remain closed. The only solutions today are renting premises in fields with artificial grass, which does not help the children much either.", while closing his speech with a call to Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was also a sportsman himself, Kola emphasizes.
The history of the disappearance of fields
Transformed year after year, the sports fields were brought under control in many cases by construction businessmen and in many others in the parking lot until their turn comes. The destruction of the sports fields started immediately after the 90s. From the data made available to you by "Sinjalizo", it appears that 20 sports fields have been erased from the map of the capital, which were returned to the land of buildings, parking lots, in a few cases, flower gardens or have become unusable.
We are talking about large fields, which were used by chain teams of clubs, for the development of their activities, for the championship of high schools, the championship of faculties with students and the championship of enterprises.
According to the inventory made by the Albanian Football Federation, the areas lacking in the capital are:
Areas missing from the capital inventory:
1. The field near hospital no. 5 and the United School (occupied, construction), 2. The field behind the Girls' Medical Dormitory (occupied, construction), 3. The field of Pharmacy No. 10 (occupied, wholesale market), 4. The Black Field at the Train Station (busy, construction), 5. The official field of the "Partizani" club (busy, construction) 6. The Autotractor Factory Field (busy, construction), 7. The two Fields of Ali Demit (busy, calceto flower garden), 8. Field of the Palace of Pioneers (busy, construction and church), 9. "Qemal Stafa" stadium annex (flower garden and parking), 10. Sauk Field of the Police School (destroyed, built with concrete), 11. Annex of the stadium "Selman Stërmasi" (reduced by unusable construction), 12. Field of the "11 Janari" school (under construction), 13. Field December 21 black (busy, construction), 14. Technological school field (busy, construction), 15. Party School field (busy, business and construction), 16. Textile Combine field (busy , school), 17. Field of the center - former Kamza (occupied, construction), 18. Field of the Agricultural Institute (ruined, unusable), 19. Field of the Student City (ruined, unusable), 20. Field of the Republic Guard (out of order, parking), 21. Elbasan Street field (busy, construction and flower gardens).
Last on the list, the Dajti complex
But one of the last complexes that seems to be resisting the wave of constructions is the "Dajti" sports complex. But even this sports destination has been left in oblivion and is heading towards final degradation.
In addition to oblivion, from the data investigated by "Sinjalizo", it also results that this complex will also undergo a transformation. The decision of the Municipality of Tirana, dated December 28, 2021, approved the Detailed Local Plan for the area where the complex is located, emphasizing that the area where the "Dajti" sports complex is located is designed for social and recreational activities and for underground parking and also includes to the subdivision for redevelopment.
"The calculation of the proposed recreational spaces is calculated in such a way that their surface together with the surface of the roads which contribute to be 30% of the areas for development. All areas for development will provide the relevant contribution for the realization of these spaces", it is said in relationship.
"Sinjalizo" asked the Municipality of Tirana about the fate of the "Dajti" sports complex, but also about the sports grounds that have already disappeared, but did not receive any response until the moment of publication of this article.
But in addition to this complex, there are also some fields or sports grounds that are disappearing due to degradation. Among them is the annex near the "Selman Stërmasi" stadium, when the great Dinamo of the Zëri-Ballgjini-Përnaska trio used to train.
In oblivion and not used for any sports activity is the field in the premises of the United School.
We used to have…
If before the 90s, there were at least 30 facilities, fields and sports fields in the capital, where the population was about 300 thousand inhabitants. After 30 years, when the population of the capital has grown to over 1 million inhabitants, the opposite has happened with these facilities, sports fields and corners. Currently, there are 6-7 real sports facilities in Tirana.
Today in developed countries there is one football field for every 1800 inhabitants. As far as Albania is concerned, we are at the level of one football field for 80 thousand inhabitants, and in extreme cases one field for 190 thousand inhabitants. England has the best ratio in this regard, 1 per 1800 inhabitants, where 6000 fields and sports fields have been built in its capital, London alone. While the European average is 1 per 6.500 inhabitants, an average that some of the countries in the region currently have, such as Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia.
For the sports analyst Fatmir Mëneri, what happened cannot be undone, but we must look to build new sports grounds, we must not mourn the disappeared grounds.
"Of course, in principle, we all agree that the sports part should not be compromised, the grounds, which are the basic food to develop a sports activity, more specifically football, which requires larger grounds than some other sports fields. Of course, we should scream that we are running out of fields, but on the other hand, we should look at where we can build other fields. If I make a comparison, how a forest is preserved in the Nordic countries, before you cut down a tree, you have to plant another tree, this is how it should be done in Albania, you will destroy a field for your interests, build one for me other place. These fields are broken, but we should not keep crying, these fields, because they are destroyed for different interests, but we must demand that new fields be built, the legislation be adjusted to build new sports grounds", says for "Sinjalizo", Maneri.
Politics speaks with "must..."
In one team with the Albanian Olympic Committee, mayors and heads of education, for the new national sports program in schools and universities, Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that the surfaces of open sports grounds, community sports grounds, in the neighborhoods, up to across administrative units in rural areas.
But in fact what is noticed is that so far the opposite of what the prime minister wants has happened, who is also one of the mayors who has given the most permits for the demolition of sports grounds in Tirana.
Yesterday's sporty Tirana is left with almost nothing, while today its place has been taken by a noisy Tirana, full of buildings and more polluted than before.
This is also shown by the monitoring that is carried out Green Lungs for air pollution in the city, where the most polluted areas in Tirana are the area near Shallvare, the area between Kavaja street and Myslym Shyr area, Durrës street and 21 Djetori area.
