Dinamo City’s public relations director, Andi Verçani, has sharply criticized the failure to approve the sports sponsorship law, calling the way sport is taxed in Albania unfair.
The sports sponsorship law remains a debated issue in Albania. Despite continuous demands from clubs and sports representatives, the proposal to create a mechanism that would encourage private investment has not received the necessary support. Andi Verçani, public relations director at Dinamo, has also reacted to this issue, expressing his dissatisfaction on the programme “Në shtëpinë e futbollit” on FSHF TV.
Verçani criticized fiscal policies toward academies and sports clubs, pointing to what he considers an unjustified contrast between the taxation of sports activities and that of businesses that include casinos.
“It is terrible, it is something I have been discussing for many years and it continues to happen. A football academy pays 20% VAT for every child registered at that academy or club. This happens only in Albania, where a luxury hotel with a casino inside pays only 6% VAT. We are talking about gambling, vice”, Verçani said.
The Dinamo representative considers this difference a clear sign of the lack of institutional support for sport, which plays an important role in the education and development of children and young people.
“We pay 20% for public good and education, while gambling, which was banned by law in the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, we tax at 6%. This is arrogance, which is why people are protesting”, he stated.
Verçani also emphasized that the sponsorship law could create new funding opportunities for sports clubs, encouraging businesses to invest more in football and in the development of new talents.
During the interview, Verçani also referred to Kosovo, claiming that the sponsorship law there generates around 30 million euros. According to him, Albania still has a lot to do to create a model that financially supports sport.
He also mentioned the clubs Egnatia, Dinamo and Partizani, which, according to his statement, contribute around 3 million euros in taxes to the state without receiving the support they seek through a sponsorship mechanism.