The Government is pushing on the Football Federation of Macedonia to close the game against Kosovo for the audience. The excuse that is used is obviously the coronavirus, but Republika has learnt that the actual reason is the fear of violence between Macedonian and Albanian fan groups.

The March 26 game is expected with trepidation because of the potential of violence. A win would bring the team closer to possibly qualifying for the European Championship which would be a historic first for either Macedonia or Kosovo. Fans from near-by Kosovo are planning to make the trip to Skopje’s Philip II stadium, but it is also estimated that half of the tickets sold in Macedonia were picked up by Albanian fan groups. Tensions have been high over the imposed name change, the murder of a Vardar fan in 2018 by Albanian nationalists, frequent lesser attacks and the Albanian rampage in the Macedonian National Theater.

The Government has been selling a narrative that inter-ethnic relations are on the mend despite all these incidents, and the ruling SDSM party is promoting its first inter-ethnic coalition ahead of the April 12 elections, in an attempt to draw Albanian voters, as it sinks among Macedonians. Therefore, SDSM is desperate to avoid additional incidents that would rupture the idyllic picture it is presenting. Football stadiums across Europe are not being closed to the public, with the exception of Italy which is having a much greater percentage of coronavirus patients that other countries.

Police can separate the Kosovan fans, but it will be much harder to keep apart the Macedonian Albanians from ethnic Macedonians. This mixture of Albanian nationalist groups among the Macedonian fans could prove explosive depending on how the game goes.