U.S. envoy meets Albanian football chief in lobbying mission

Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump for Global Partnerships, met with Armando Duka, President of the Albanian Football Federation (FSHF), in Tirana. While the meeting was officially framed as ‘sports diplomacy,’ reports indicate it served as a lobbying mission to secure support for the reelection of FIFA President Gianni Infantino for another four-year term.

Zampolli described the visit as ‘America First sports diplomacy in action.’ The mission comes at a sensitive time for Infantino, who faces declining support from European football federations following a failed proposal regarding World Cup broadcasting rights. Notably, the Albanian Football Federation had officially withdrawn its previous support for Infantino in August.

Separately, Armando Duka issued a message to Albanian students marking the start of the new school year. He highlighted the FSHF’s ‘Uniforma Ime’ (My Uniform) project, which provides free uniforms to students to support education and solidarity through sports.