Muhamed Demiri conducted an interview with “TV Koha” in which he openly discussed issues such as whether more ethnic Albanian players should play for Macedonia, and their treatment within the national team.

Demiri, currently a member of the Macedonian national team and Swiss top division side St. Gallen, was born in Skopje but his family immigrated to Switzerland when he was only 3 months old.  He started with football as an 11-year-old and has exclusively played in Swtizerland with the likes of Concordia Basel, Thun and now St. Gallen.  Muhamed made his debut for the Macedonian national team in December of 2010 in a friendly against China, when Mirsad Jonuz was the manager.

The interview by “TV Koha” with Demiri began with questions about his club team St. Gallen, but then shifted to the national team and possibly playing in Macedonia’s championship later in his career.

Demiri was first asked whether he was satisfied with his performance in the past qualifying cycle for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  He said, “When looking at the results, I am not satisfied.  But, if we look at the games that we played, especially against Croatia and Belgium, I believe we deserved better.  In the end, however, we achieved last place and this is a very poor result.  I hope that we will put together better results for the qualifications for EURO 2016 in France.”

“TV Koha” then inquired whether more ethnic Albanians should play for the Macedonian national team, to which Demiri responded, “I believe so.  It should be all about quality, regardless of the player’s nationality.  I think there are more ethnic Albanians that deserve to play for Macedonia, but it is not my duty to call up players.  That is up to the coach and federation.”

The next question put to Demiri was about the treatment of ethnic Albanians within the national team, and whether there are divisions on the team.  He responded, “According to me, it is not 100% as it should be.  For a year and a half the people in the stadium began to swear at the ethnic Albanian players.  I can’t accept this as a player, but also as a human being.  Regarding a divide, I will publicly disclose that I do not speak Macedonian.  I understand everything said, but I do not speak it.  Having said that, I don’t think there are recurring problems between Albanian and Macedonian players.  Regardless, my job is not to talk about these things.  We are part of a national team and need to serve as a positive example to the public.  We do not need to incite nationalism among others.”

Furthermore, Muhamed noted that he had little knowledge of domestic football in Macedonia prior to his debut with the national team.  After his debut for Macedonia, however, he has taken more of an interest and is now a fan of Shkendija.  He tracks the results on a weekly basis, and also read that Dejan Blazhevski was named the best domestic player for 2013.  When asked whether he would one day play in Macedonia’s championship, Demiri answered, “I do not know.  I guess never say never.  I am currently in St. Gallen, have a contract, and we will see what might happen later in my career.

To view the complete interview with Demiri, click here.