Shkupi finally came out with an explanation why isn’t playing Sunday‘s 2nd round top flight match against Sileks, due to the lack of a stadium with VAR conditions.

photo by FC Shkupi Skopje

Shkupi reveals that they had permission from Belasica to play this match at the Blagoj Istatov stadium in Strumica, which has all the conditions for using VAR, but at the last minute the stadium owners changed their minds and did not allow Shkupi to use the venue.

“First, we would like to sincerely apologize to all our fans for the inconvenience caused.
We would like to clearly explain the situation:
• We reached an agreement with the owners of the stadium in Strumica to hold the match there and received their written approval (you can see it in the attached photo).
• We immediately notified the Football Federation of Macedonia (FFM), and the match has been officially registered and confirmed in the system.
• Unfortunately, at the last minute the owners of the stadium withdrew the given approval, creating an unnecessary problem for our club.
For this reason, FC Shkupi will take the matter to court and will follow all legal procedures.
As for our stadium, the work on installing the VAR system has already begun. We plan to hold the next home match at our stadium, in front of you – our dear fans.
During this process, we hoped that the clubs in Macedonia would show solidarity and understanding, allowing us to play at least one ‘home’ match at their stadium. Unfortunately, we did not see such support. On the contrary, our path has become even more difficult,” the club statement signed by president Yasin Konyali said.

Shkupi will play Pelister in Bitola in the next round, and then a home match, a local derby against Vardar, will follow. Whether the VAR will be ready at Chair for this match remains to be seen. In any case, if Shkupi does not play even one more match, they will be disqualified from the competition.