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| - England's 2022 World Cup qualifier against Albania this weekend in Tirana will be played as police dismissed a security issue raised by the Albanian Football Association, police said Friday. "The state police undertook all the measures to guarantee order and safety before, during and after the football match between Albania and England" on Sunday, a state police spokesman told AFP. Spokesman Gent Mullai said it was a "misunderstanding" and voiced regret over what he called the AFA's "hasty reaction in the media". The AFA said Thursday it had been informed that local police could not guarantee the safety of the teams. The cancellation of the match would have "catastrophic" consequences for the Balkan country's "image, the national team and in general for Albanian football", an AFA statement said. The safety issue arose after the AFA demanded that around a third of the seats at the Tirana stadium -- some 6,500 -- be open for fans. But the government rejected the demand, arguing that according to restrictions the country has imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus, only gatherings of up to 10 people are allowed. The match will be played behind closed doors. Albania has been hit with a surge of Covid-19 cases in recent days, taking the country of 2.8 million people to more than 120,000 infections and nearly 2,200 deaths from the disease. The two teams' World Cup qualifying Group I also includes Poland, Hungary, Andorra and San Marino. bme/ljv/td
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