Kosovo's Muriqi Honors Jailed KLA Leaders After Ireland Goal
Kosovo captain Vedat Muriqi held up a shirt backing former KLA leaders, sentenced in The Hague to 81 years combined, after scoring against Ireland. UEFA had not responded by Friday morning.
It’s the 83rd minute at Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina. The ball drops into the Irish net off a header, and the home captain doesn’t run to the bench, he runs straight for his own fans. Vedat Muriqi pulls off his jersey, revealing a plain white shirt underneath, and the whole stand knows what’s coming before anyone can even read the writing on it.
What the shirt said
One side of the shirt read “Justice for the liberators,” the other “Not in my name.” The message was not random. Ten days earlier, on September 16, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague handed down a first instance verdict against four former KLA commanders. Hashim Thaci and Jakup Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years, Kadri Veseli to 18 and Rexhep Selimi to 13, an 81 years in total. All four were at the same time acquitted of crimes against humanity, and the ruling is not yet final.
The scene at Fadil Vokrri had already started before kickoff. Home fans unfurled a choreography spelling out KLA alongside the message “Unity. Freedom. Pride,” and chants of “UÇK” broke out from the stands throughout the match. When Muriqi, the 32 year old striker, beat the Irish goalkeeper with a header in the 83rd minute, the stadium got both its goal and a reason to keep going.
The score held at 1-0, Kosovo’s first win to open a new UEFA Nations League cycle. Muriqi had considered walking away from the national team before this season, but his teammates and the coaching staff talked him into staying at least through the end of European Championship qualifying. At club level he plays for Turkey’s Fenerbahce, where his teammates include Serbia international Ognjen Mimovic.
What Muriqi said
Speaking to reporters after the match, the captain didn’t mince words.
Given that we’ve just started a new Nations League cycle, this win is very important. We knew Ireland’s weak points. We controlled the game and created a lot of chances, especially in the first half. But the win is what matters most. I congratulate the team, the national team’s coaching staff and the fans, who deserve full credit for their tremendous support. We dedicate this win to the liberators and the leaders of the KLA.
Muriqi said, before turning to the team spirit he credits for carrying the side.
I told my teammates that when we play for each other, success follows on its own. Today the win mattered, not who scored it. But for me, a goal for the national team always brings more satisfaction than a goal for my club. We earned this win as a team, not as Vedat, but as a team.
Will UEFA respond?
UEFA’s regulations ban political messages at matches under its jurisdiction, with penalties written in for both the federation and the individual player. As of Friday morning, September 25, nothing had come out of Nyon, not about the shirt, not about the pre match choreography, not about the chanting from the stands during it.
Earlier this week, the Srpske Novine portal reported on Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s reaction to the Hague verdict, in which she argued that crimes against Serbs were left out of the indictment. Now the same court case, in the same week, has reached the football pitch too, this time through one captain’s gesture after one goal.
When an athlete turns a goal celebration into a political statement, the call passes to a different kind of referee. Muriqi made that clear on Thursday night with a goal, a shirt and a quote, all in one breath. The next move belongs to UEFA, and it will say more about this case than any scoreline could.
